Lviv
Fall, 1995
Today I was in love
I bought blood red berries
Pomegranates torn open
Dried herbs tied in bundles
Eggs in glass jars.
All around me the city breathed
Centuries of mourning
Born against the weight of the sky
The carved stone of doorways
Armenian apses
Layers of language on markers of the dead
Fortresses
Courtyards
Sculptured turrets of thick walled arsenals
And tiers of icons enshrined in light
Today I was in love and the city breathed
Bouquets of burnt-orange lamps sputtered
Priests swung censers through Moldavian cathedrals
Edifices arched
Not buildings at all
But monuments to fortitude
Like the faces of people
Eugenia Hepworth Jenson (Ukraine 199597)