Don't wait for us, my darling Poem by Maria Stepanova

Don't wait for us, my darling
Me and my friend been took.
Reporting back from the front, sir:
There's war wherever you look.

We're based down in a basement
In the deepest depths of the clay
They're throwing flames above us
But we've gone away

Some arrived only lately
Some at the beginning of time
All of them flat as playing cards
Fallen in the grime.
And the earth that flows between us
is thick as wine.

We were men but now
We're amino acids in soup
The smell of tears and sperm
And bonemeal and gloop

And me I'm singed at the edges
A piece of felted wool
The one who stood at the window with you
Is made of deep hole.

When they lay that table
With plates on damask cloth
When they light the Christmas tree
And sing Ave to the host
When a camel hoof
Breaks the icy crust -

A king's ransom: gold
Frankincense and myrrh
Won't light us through the cold
Won't ward off the hunger
So it was all a lie, my girl.

No need to caress the brambles
Or finger through the copse
I'm the empty corner of old cloth
The earth has lain on top.