The Russian Soldier, 1918

Mack Hall, HSG

 The Russian Soldier, 1918

The Russian soldier, Moskina¹ in hand,

Though filthy, tired, unknown, unpaid, unfed,
Fights for his God, his Czar, and his Fatherland:
No medals, no vodka, no sleep, no bread

His clumsy lowest-bidder boots,² they rot

Into the foulness where the world’s sins pitch
Into the slime of old Iscariot³
Good men to die in some Gehenna-ditch

Saint George, Saint Michael, and Saint Seraphim

Preserve him in his soul from Judas’ crime⁴
Life’s-end tears, life’s-end prayers, a blood-choked scream
And so he climbs the trench wall one last time,

Three cartridges⁵ clenched in his frozen fist,

He disappears at last into the mist⁶

^1.        Moss-Nagant rifle
^2.        Betrayal by contractors
^3.        Betrayal by politicians and Bolsheviks
^4.        The Russian soldier does not fail his duty
^5.        Ammunition shortage / the Trinity / God, Czar, and Fatherland
^6.        The Russian soldier is known to God