This morning apple blossom, scattered by
the softest of winds, showered me like
confetti and, by chance, I looked up
into a deep, deep cobalt sky and there
they were – one, two then a third and fourth –
arriving perennially at this time
here each May. Monogamous, returning
to the same nests until they die, each
generation nesting in the empty nests –
each generation now, as it returns yearly
from the tropics, finding more and more nests
gone as buildings are renovated
and new ones built sealed as airless boxes.
HINDSIGHT
A SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION
ON FIRST READING ‘THE GULAG ARCHIPELAGO’
A SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION
BIRTHDAY GIRL UNDER HOUSE ARREST