Page 179 - Revelation

Svetlana de Rohan-Levashova. Revelation

We admired our star late into the evening,

Knowing nothing about each other.

It was the best star in the sky.

It shone brighter, lighter and clearer than
others... Whatever I did, wherever I was,
I never forgot about it.

Its radiant light warmed

My blood with hope.
I brought my whole love –
Young, untouched and pure – to you.

The star sang songs about you.

It called me day and night to the endless expanse.
And one April spring evening

It took me to your window.

I gently took your shoulders
And said, happily smiling:

"Not in vain I waited for this meeting,
My darling little star"...

My mother was absolutely charmed with dad’s verses. He wrote her a lot of them
and brought them every day to her work together with enormous posters which he drew
himself (my dad was a splendid painter) and unrolled them right at her work table.
Among the multitude of painted flowers she saw the big letters: "Annushka, my little
star, I love you!" What woman could resist anything like this for very long and not give
in? They never parted and spent every free minute together, as if somebody could take
it away from them. Together they went to the cinema and local dances (which both
loved very much) and went for a walk in the charming Alitus municipal park until one
fine day they decided that it was time to look at their relationship a bit more seriously.
They married soon, but only dad’s friend Ionas (my mother’s little brother) knew about
it, because neither family would be delighted about their union.
My mother’s parents saw a rich neighbour-teacher as her husband. They liked him
very much and thought that he would be absolutely right for her. And my dad’s family
was very far from thinking about any wedding, because my grand-dad had been thrown
into prison as an "accomplice of the nobility" (they tried to "break" my stubbornly
resisting dad) and my grandmother went into a hospital because of the nervous shock and
was very sick. My dad was left with a little brother to look after and had to keep the house
alone which was not a very simple thing, because the Seriogins lived in a large two-
storeyed house (in which later I lived too) with an enormous old orchard around it.

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