Life In Russia (1945 - 1990) Poem by Harshvardhan Ramachandran

Sitting on the edge of my bed
Wondering what a life I’ve led
To be able to have visited so many places
To have known so many faces
So short a time has passed for me in my long life
(Author Note: The Short time The Person writing has had for himself)
I have never even had the time for a wife

Was shipped out in the Great Patriotic War
(Author Note: Russian Term for the War with Germany in WW2)
When the Nazi Army stormed our doors
And stabbed us in the backs
I was a young man of 18
I had never seen the world outside my town
Now The Nazis were trying to tear it all down

As I sit on my bed
Wondering what a life I’ve led
I ponder whether it worth living for
Marching on the Western front trying to stop the onslaught
That the Nazi Luftwaffe had brought
The force the Fuhrer used
To capture areas he dearly sought
Forty of my friends were in my group
Ten made it past the first week
And not more than five during the onslaught
And none were left when I faced my own crisis
Stuck in a vice
In the last outpost of The Red Steelworks we fought
(Author Note: Red Steelworks in Stalingrad)
While we buried our lot
Eventually Stalingrad was won
And soon the war was done

Many of my loved ones had died
And I can say without shame, I did cry
The Red Army triumphed over Berlin
And soon peace would reign
Or so it should have been

There was an explosion in 1945 in Japan
A danger the world had never seen before
A weapon that would vaporize existence when dropped
Soon the world would scramble for it
And Lead us on the verge of destruction
It was the beginning of Humanity’s crucifixion.

There were a few things the world was yet to see
Divided over the very ideology
Would spell a eulogy
For impending world prosperity through peace
The Iron Curtain was drawn
The Doomsday clock was wound
In the air is a deafening sound
And on the ground are body mounds

I hear the music of death blaring
As the air raid rings
Proxy wars started out worldwide
What was really the virtuous side?
I was simply born here in The USSR
Risked my life in The Great War
Millions died for a better earth
For a promise of freedom of man
But that withered away in the sands of time
And now they weep in their graves

Aggressive standoffs were now the standard
I stood firmly in Mother Russia’s corner
Not knowing what was to come
The silence of the standoff was nervous
We were a race of hard workers
People with a vision for change
A change that was not exclusive in the slightest
But was designed to be inclusive
While the world around us considered us the recluse
The people treated us as heroes
Systems where order and discipline falter
Are destined to die and wither

Socialism, Communism was never the enemy
Democracy or Capitalism was not the Supergod
That would bring the Earth its salvation
Nor would our policies its damnation
It all is relative they say
At the end, it’s the innocent masses that must pay

Escalation mounted around Asia and Europe
Posturing was the norm at the time
It was the kopek against the dime
While in the raging battlefield
The Makarov faced an evolving revolver
As The Ruble fought the Dollar
(Author Note: Lots of Russia vs. US iconography)
In policy making and international diplomacy
At the end, I realized it was not our complacency
But our blind vision of military expansion
That bankrupted us
Bankrupted the most noble mission carried out
Since our Great Revolution
That seems so long ago, I can barely remember The Great War.

So here I sit in my bed
With a bit of joy and sorrow in my head
Sorrow at knowing that our vision failed
While it was neither evil nor reprehensible
It was cast to be the one of the devil
An opinion shared by The Fuhrer himself
And see how the powers of the West hated him
And brought him down
Then they turned to hate us
It matters not, I finally see the joy
Of the sacrifice made by my country
By our friends and allies
Beyond boundaries, sex, age or race
Who faced fear with a smile on their face
And triumphed over it for the cause
So ends The USSR, The Iron curtain is brought down
Will we look back one day at this point and frown
Wondering if we went down the right path
Most probably not, but I’d dread to think
We might have made a mistake we can never look back from
Life goes on in Russia……..