Spiral freefall on Камчатка,
hunter green peninsula
luckily not winter, I land
on an isba’s front yard.
The quest begins, the earth
is there for digging:
a rolled-up hedgehog found,
aestivation or death?
It won’t move anyway,
even as I chomp off its tail,
because that’s a signal:
a stone switch materializes
on the isba’s side with
Cyrillic clues.
Толкать, тянуть, успех…
my Russian’s scanty, but
the book is here, stuck
in the stone.
When I first read from it
the villagers stand awestruck,
goggle-eyed and breathless.