Re: Moscow

Warm wishes from this cold grey heart!
Oh, love, I wish you could've seen it
The rooftops, shaped as though cupped in palms, were radiant
In the gold-washed memories of those evenings.
The world unfurled before us, ours to explore
The saintly square-faced monument, intersecting the sun.
The streets of this city are hemmed in with history
Invigilators of grief, more purposeful than any quaint tradition back home.

The slurs of language rise up amongst the red battlements like wreaths of smoke.
The very air is a conduit into the past; it carries a heaviness like the water here.
Easy to splutter. Necessary to our lives, doppelganger.

We were so high up, love.
The spiderweb of illuminations below us
Buoyant with nonsensical conversations, giddy in our laughter
Faux in our seriousness, in our suspension of disbelief.
You couldn't have criticised if you were there.

One night we descended into alcoves and the mollification
Of fermented yeast.
Concern was counterbalanced by some surreal game
Played by those who should know better.

You saw entrapment where I saw liberty.
Emancipation of my woes, ironic in this historical setting
Lethargy was welcomed, wrapped in mirror-coaches and the thick-soap air
I spent with friends, new and unexpected, when others derailed.
You heard malicious whispers of the souls here
All I heard was laughter.