Fantasy: A Russian Counter-Insurgent Poem by Margaret Alice

My career as a German spy began at nine –
Semjonof was my name; though I played all
characters in that game - I also was General
Karpoesjin; as sensitive as a human seismograph;
and Marfa; an Intourist guide with a neckline as
deep as the Volga; as Semjonof I fled from
Karpoesjin all over the Tundra; frozen and still;
I also was Ludmilla, a Russian Work Camp
Commander who fell for Semjonof and joined
in his flight; at the same time I also was a Russian
counter-insurgent whose finger- and toenails had
been extracted to force me to split their hideaway;
my spirit was broken upon my ordeal; a terrible
toothache in real gave me a chance to prepare
for suffering in silence with a broken spirit; but
after a visit to the dentist my spirit was still
intact; though I suppose the constant anxiety
and fear of the game; as well as the threat of the
Biblical Apocalypse really messed up my system:
Today I’m still living with the ghastly symptoms
of impossibly high levels of anxiety!

(Konsalik - Die Voortvlugtige Spioen)