Hlusk, or countryside Belarus

I walk and seek those wooden houses
that sat among the orange trees
and watched the wonders of the river,
and wove my childhood memories...
Here, trees that poured their shadows
across the fields or up the hills
had fruits whose juices made me tinge
my dresses with a painter's skills.
It's rare to see those country girls
with slanted eyes, brunet hair and skin
that worked the fields and washed in creeks,
and wore perfume of white jasmine...
Before, we found those foods that stirred
the cheerful songs of fishermen,
the talk of parrots on the 'sills,
and gathered to the porch the hens.
Those days are gone and won't return;
they only left their loud farewells
echoing on sidewalks and paths
where city light has cast its spells

By Rosa Clement