"Moscow Impression"
"Where?"
"Wildflowering Solstice"		   "Shortcomings"
"Siberian Garden"
"View from the train"		   
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Moscow Impression
2:40 am Irkutsk, June 2000

A battle of icons
If in paint or in bronze

Religious or political
Are all parasitical

Control breeds corruption
God worship, interruption

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WHERE?
Inspired by my front yard

In my Kaleidoscope you might have seen
	Background colors of brown or green
But the chips are rolling in every hue
	Of purple-orange-yellow-red-all but true blue
And that's OK
	Cause the container's blue when it isn't gray.

 Some textures like parchment, and some like a guilt
	A satin emerges with just the right tilt.
Shapes of trumpets and torches, scallops and bells
	Grapes, lemons and spices are same of the smells
That ambles forth in the morning light
	Or explode like fireworks on the night.

Even when I rearrange it
	God's hand alone can change it
From one setting to the next
	Following the seasonal text
Bringing the unseen to view
	Gently turning the giant tube.

Moving quietly without fumbling
	No sound of pieces tumbling
I await the new combination
	To God a standing ovation
For giving me this big toy
	And a shovel to carve out my joy.

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Wildflowering Solstice
This was inspired by the Far-Eastern side of Russia.
"Auxano" is a Greek word from Biblical texts that means 
"growth from within, without compulsion."

Armfuls of assorted blossoms
Auxano in abundance
Amicably arriving at day
Azure arbors arise along our way
Searing sun through mists
		that sing and pray
Asiatic lilies in	
		Scarlet scarves
Irises igniting in indigo
And colorful strangers
		I'd like to know.

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Shortcomings
"A passing train is always nosier than the one you are on."
Iinspired by an experience on the Trans-Siberian Railway.

Mine are comfortable and familiar
Still and silent like a rock.

Yours unnoticed until you are
Right there, and I'm shocked

At the noise and the clatter
As you move down the tracks

Overstating your matter
While I try to relax,

Deaf to the sounds
Of my own comfort zone.

Denial abounds
When traveling alone.

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Siberian Garden

A cabin hugs the ground
A dreary fence surrounds
A rich garden plot

It looks like confinement
For its hard-working tenant
Free to roam, he is not.

But at night, the full sky
Is owned by his eye
He roams
Yet at home
Confined? He forgot.

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View from the train

Summer solstice
Siberian sunset
Slowly, simply
Setting softly
Serious
Silent
Serene

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©2000 Elaine Landmark