MEANWHILE IN CHECHNYA
28/29 December
1999
Meanwhile, in Chechnya
squads of soldier bods
prepare to storm the
skeleton of what was a city
tank tracks rattle
over fields where not long ago
fighters swung into saddle
battled and sang
of honour and blood and soil
a dash of religion and love
for that girl far from here
- Katalinka!
generals in tents cast
rises and falls
still Napoleon's field bed stands
in Borodino, in that white house.
© Bart FM Droog, 2000
© translation
John Irons, 2000
original title: Ondertussen in Tsjetsjenië, from
Benzine, Passage
Publishing Company, Groningen, 2000