“The Winter of This Endless Era”

by Margot Lurie Today, February 7, is the birthday of Regina Derieva, the Russian poet who died last December in Sweden.  To mark the occasion, here is her “Tattooed Mnemosyne,” a poem that is as scathing a summary of Stalinism as one can imagine.  In this translation by Daniel Weissbort, one sees her gift for startling imagery and her mind of winter (one that rivaled Stevens’):   To promulgate the courtyard, its cul-de-sac, calling... Read More