Dostoevsky was arrested and imprisoned in 1849 for being part of the liberal intellectual group, the Petrashevsky Circle. In November, he was sentenced to death and faced a mock execution. His sentence was commuted to four years exile in Siberia. This poem is modeled after a poem written by my friend Taylor Altman who recently published her first collection, Swimming Back.
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Dostoevsky, to his Brother
Russia's never warm any time of year
but my other option was hell
I was blindfolded, back against the wall
ready for the tolling of the bell
Someday I might write a book
one of the pastimes of exile
a writer emerging from imprisonment?
will never go out of style.
I have enjoyed stumbling upon this amazing blog of yours, Craig. Many thanks from the universe at large for your blend of science and art, bathed in a large degree of humanity!
ReplyDeleteRelated to this poem--you might enjoy a poem by Norman Dubie: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15678
Thanks again.
Yes! Thank you, that's a fantastic dramatic monologue.
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