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Path: University (1985-1990) » portraits of red and grey » portraits of red and grey - 9

nine

 

gum department store

moscow's eaton centre

a long glass tunnel lined with shops

                                                   ( and little to buy )

i see soviet efficiency displayed before me

a woman stands in line waiting for shoes

she waits and waits and chooses a pair
only to receive a slip of paper with its price
she takes this paper and stands in line
and gives a cashier the paper and money
she gets a receipt and stands in line
finally trading the receipt for her shoes

i step outside into sunlight
sunglasses hiding me
i notice a teenager
                          tagging behind
suspicious
i watch him
turning around i pass him ( a test )
                                                  he follows
whispering from behind ''sunglasses 30 rubles''
''50'' i say ( a good capitalist )
he vanishes
i think
i turn a corner
                    face to face before me
he's standing
                a handful of bills
into my left
sunglasses
                into his right
without a word disappears

my wallet full
i search moscow streets
empty shops and greasy food pass by
my eyes uncovered squinting
breathing smog in downtown air forgetting
for a second
a thousand mites from toronto

 

   -----

 

across a square and traffic
a toy store
lined and filled
i walk across into a crowd
drawn towards large wooden dolls
in wooden dolls
rounded rolling smiling faces
i pull them out and open
lined along a shelf in order
until a russian clerk calls over
and chases my dolls back to their shells
i turn and sigh to a young girl's giggling
across an aisle and smiling
i blush and turn and look
                                   she's gone
i search the store
through bobbing heads
daydreaming of a young girl's smile
and listening for the sound laughter