to drill a tunnel through one of the hemispheres
to discover freedom in the other.
But never forget - there's taiga all around.
—Anzhelina Polonskaya
—Photos by DB, as encountered during walkabouts, Eugene OR 2024. Outside of these isolated, framed moments, each person moved in their individual befores-and-afters with intent or by circumstance, with hope and longing. As did the photographer. This "outside" ever larger than the picture. Life is Enormous.
—Poem by Anzhelina Polonskaya, in To The Ashes (2019 trans Russian by Andrew Wachtel. Polonskaya was born near Moscow, lives in Germany, her poetry is banned in Russia.)
Taiga
The sea darkens outside
and gradually becomes the taiga,
irrational, trackless.
Having run the impassible gauntlet
you shrug your shoulders, like a prisoner,
holding your bundle to your chest with one hand,
still smiling innocently at the sun.
Life is enormous, you only have
to drill a tunnel through one of the hemispheres
to discover freedom in the other.
But never forget - there's taiga all around.
