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| Hippolyte Robillard Countess Sophia Bobrinskaya 1869 albumen print Hermitage, Saint Petersburg |
Anna K.
1.
Anna believed.
Couldn't delay.
Every Friday
grew heroic
infidelity just
knowing love
might never
otherwise present
queenly resplendent
satisfaction trapped
under Vronsky's
wild x-rated
young zap.
2.
Afraid. Betrayed.
Can't divorce.
Envy follows
grim heroine,
inks judgment,
kills lust.
Mercy nowhere.
Opulent pink
quintessence radiates
suicide trip –
unique vacation –
worst Xmas,
yesterday's zero.
– David Lehman, from When a Woman Loves a Man (New York: Scribner, 2005)