Alexandr Blok
One snowy night I was smiled upon by Russian gods
& found myself at dinner opposite
The Moscow scholars a married couple—he only
the world’s authority on Pasternak
& she the final word on her beloved Alexandr Blok
& as we talked the evening gathered
Along the length of the white table & I could only keep
drinking the conversation in so deeply
I felt myself reaching back into the dark century & at last
I got up to leave in my black cashmere
Overcoat I’d found hanging on the back rack of a Venice
thrift store & became just another shadow
About to slide wordlessly into the night & yes it’s true
it was snowing just in upstate New York
Not Moscow or St. Petersburg nor in any ancient page
yet to anyone who saw me walking
I imagined myself as the most lyrical shadow alive
Copyright © 2016 David St. John. Used with permission of the author.
“This poem recounts a dinner that became one of the most enjoyable evenings of my life after having been unexpectedly introduced to the two remarkable Russians scholars the poem introduces. Also, it allows me to indulge my love of and to celebrate the famously untranslatable poet of the Silver Age, Alexandr Blok.”
—David St. John
David St. John
David St. John is the author of over ten collections of poetry, including Study for the World's Body: New and Selected Poems (Perennial, 1994), which was a finalist for the National Book Award. He currently serves on the Board of Chancellors of the Academy of American Poets.