WHAT I WOULD LIKE
by David Radavich
To walk the streets of Moscow
perhaps dressed in a robe,
perhaps in tee-shirt and jeans
and long, warm coat
carrying a big cross
with a face that spells
“Repent!” “God save us all!”
but saying nothing,
just walking
quietly,
with resolve
and maybe a crowd
will gather behind me
silently,
with a firm step
growing ever larger
and more peaceful
past the policemen
and the domed churches
and trees naked
of leaves
into the light
where the dead
are secretly buried,
where brightest
wings unfold.