If I wrote in Russian

I could tell you

about the apple orchards

especially in blossom

in the treachery

that lay at

the bottom of the pond

weighted with the stones

of history

of an overbearing father

of bears and vodka

in poetry in

the winter lodge

the meanings would be

only obvious to those

who studied and knew

of the czars and Bolsheviks

but I am only

a simple American

who knows of watermelons

and tomatoes and

snakes and railroad ties

если бы я писал по русски