In The Walls by Susan Tepper

                              

Meditations on dear Petrov, set in 19th Century Russia during a time of war

White.  Blank.  Everywhere something to be covered.  My life in these walls, dear Petrov.  Scarcely a sound.  Each time you finally return I must teach myself to speak.  Soft guttural animal noises.  You never seem to notice.  Boisterous and tired in your chair.  Pouring down whisky like wine from the priest.  Dear Petrov nothing will save you.  This life is inscribed on some secret tablet.   A matter of trust, you say.  While I have none.  Guns firing beyond the mountain day into night.  Season into season.  Guns like birdsong taken for granted.  If I were to marry I would arrive at the church in black.  To counter the eternal snow.  Perhaps a red feather stuck in my hat.  Reflecting the passion still simmering under the white blanket covering the land.

Susan Isla Tepper is a twenty years published writer in all genres.  Her current project is an Off-Broadway Play on the subject of art and life.

Cover Photograph By Glenn Bowie