Tuesday, August 04, 2020

THE DACHA

by William Aarnes


Ready and waiting, surrounded  
by a golf course (with flagsticks  
of gold), the dacha’s not far 
from Gelendzhik. 

                              The cook 
is comely.  Every maid 
is comely.  The nurse is comely. 

They all speak English. 

All the appointments— 
the chandeliers, the doorknobs, 
the faucets, the toilet seats— 
are gold. 

               The guards at the gate  
are burly.  The gardener 
is burly.  The doctor is burly. 

They all love Russia. 

The gold safe has a dial 
studded in diamonds. 
Inside—at least that’s the deal—      
is every copy of the tape. 




William Aarnes lives in South Carolina.