Petrograd Fall

Moving from stall to stall - A flitting crow -

A spry babushka tries the firmness

Of this or that fruit: tomatoes,

Apples, pears . . . The market is full today.

A good sign, she thinks. The Fall is here -

And soon the Winter. A sudden breeze -

Quite warm, really; but thinking perhaps

Of what is to come she raises her shawl

Against imagined winds.

Soon the grandchildren will be home from school.

Teenagers eat like demons! Better

To slide another bowl of potatoes

Into the noisy, sputtering pot.

Steam clouds fill the kitchen, like mists on

Frigid North-Sea oil fields where her son works.

So much like him - Yuri and Katerina . . .

They visited Uncle Alec in America,

All summer, nearly. Then came back:

His head filled with Outer Space,

Hers with animals - but ancient ones.

The Museum enthralled them both, obviously.

Well, they will do well.

Yuri loves his math and physics;

Katya takes advanced biology;

They both were chosen to speak at Earth Day -

In the town hall! It's a good sign;

The future needs them.

Louis Lopardi