MAN OF STEEL




Stalin was exiled to Siberia several times, managing to escape more than once. Learning of yet another escape attempt the Tsarist authorities sent him to the distant hamlet of Kureika close to the Artic Circle, Koba was another name he used during his period as a revolutionary and gangster. 

 MAN OF STEEL

Kureika 1913

Half a mile from the frozen lake
a hut.
Heated by a wood stove
Against the Siberian knife wind.

Inside the exile spit 
sizzles against the heat of the stove.

Thoughts of revenge keep him warm.

Wrapped in wolf fur he watches for a change in the weather

As the storm clouds gather

He sharpens himself for the coming change.

Under a scythe moon
He plots his escape.

Even the wolves are wary of this predator.

Koba pulls on his snow boots
Soon the snow will be soaked with blood.

Stalin in 1913












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