The Sentence

Portrait of Anna Akhmatova
Anna Akhmatova 1889–1966

And the stone word fell On my still-living breast. Never mind, I was ready. I will manage somehow.

Today I have so much to do: I must kill memory once and for all, I must turn my soul to stone, I must learn to live again--

Unless . . . Summer's ardent rustling Is like a festival outside my window. For a long time I've foreseen this Brilliant day, deserted house.

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