Siberia “Alone…So Far Away from Home”
By: Robert “Branko” Popovich© Sept. 15, 2017
Setting: Siberia is a land of unforgiving natural beauty—endless mountain ranges, countless streams, hidden lakes, millions of acres of cedar pine and wild chestnut forests, and its wild-life—brown and black bears, Eurasian lynx, red deer, Siberian tigers, invisible snow leopards and menacing wolves.
Weather: The temperatures range between 20 degrees Fahrenheit to 80 below zero in the winter. Traveling is primarily by dogsled, Yakutian horses and reindeer.
Threat: This poem was written while I was lost during a blinding snow storm, freezing temperatures, trapped in a ravine and waiting countless hours to be found or was it all just a dream.
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Siberia “Alone…So Far Away from Home”
By: Robert “Branko” Popovich© Sept. 15, 2017
Alone…I feel the gale force winds cascading down steep mountain peaks, swirling, lifting frozen ice and snow in my face and at my feet.
I hear the voices of millions of political dissidents, who chose imprisonment and death over humiliating submission. Their legacy of courage and selflessness only known to Siberia’s broken heart, sadness and grief from the very start.
I see a land of incomparable size and beauty that lulls the unwary into a sense of false security—much like the sirens of Greek mythology, singing their alluring and mesmerizing melodies and incantations; but in the end, only to reap isolation and eternal damnation.
“Alone…adventures still waiting to unfold.”
Three days now since I’ve been left alone taking refuge at the base of the nearest mountain’s covered dome, with the recurring thought, and growing reality, “I may never be able to return to my home.”
My food supplies are running low, maybe two more days at best before I see death's looming shadow. I look out seeking more suitable protection, but the blinding winds and snow leave no choice but to remain and focus on spiritual reflection.
Three more days have passed, I sense the end is near, no sign of being rescued, but what do I really have to fear?
I pray that my soul will not have been in vain, and ask for forgiveness for all of my sins and to all of those I may have caused even the most modest of emotional pain.
“Alone…I have come to the realization that I will never return to my home”
My breath quickens, my heart slows to a single beat—suddenly a comforting voice calls out, “Come ‘to me,’ and lie at my feet, as I listened to my last heart beat.
I forget the cold and search my heart for my belief . "Do you feel my arms tightly wrapped 'round you, offering warmth, love and long-awaited relief?"
The time has come when you will no longer be alone. God has sent me, as promised, to bring you his home.”
I forget the cold, hunger and countless personal regrets; in its place I feel God’s hand on my shoulder accepting my heartfelt desire to willingly repent.
I take my last breath, my heart falls silent within my chest, then finally coming to a long awaited and grateful rest.
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I pray for God's mercy to love and protect those loved ones that I’ve left behind, please give them the strength and courage to know it's your promise of salvation that will end this modest and heartfelt rhyme.
Now I bask in God's light, knowing I will never be alone as long as I deserve to remain in his sight.
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