Eastern Woman
Alexei Sandukhov
Queue 1952
Realismo:pasado y presente. Arte y verdad
Museo ruso, Malaga, 2020
Eastern woman saved the East
during those dreadful decades of very big government, disguised as Party
omnipresent and all-knowing,
moralising and protective
in the everyday of life.
Eastern woman stood in line for endless hours
strategising on when even the simplest ware
might become available in a shop affordably
She cooked and sewed and cleaned –
and more often than not went to work every day.
Eastern woman was the ersatz for the market that communism killed
Eastern woman coached her kids on how to live on multiple levels,
many more than Western woman could ever imagine
She knew how a political misstep could exact insufferable penalties
on those she loved.
Eastern woman held her family together
while her mate drowned himself in pity and drink
over his impotence at work and in politics
and perhaps in other parts of life.
She was the sole supporting beam of a crumbling edifice.
(This is of course a caricature
There was many a great Eastern man
honest, loving, brave and sober
So, this is only partly true
but partly true it is.)
Eastern woman, a time of great challenge has come again
demanding your perseverance and your soul:
the gains of the last generation,
however uneven and unfair,
are now at risk.
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