You Will Hear Thunder

Anna Akhmatova, 1889-1966, Russian

 

 

You will hear thunder and remember me,

And think: she wanted storms. The rim

Of the sky will be the colour of hard crimson,

 

 

And your heart, as it was then, will be on fire.

That day in Moscow, it will all come true,

when, for the last time, I take my leave,

And hasten to the heights that I have longed for,

Leaving my shadow still to be with you.

 

 

 

Flame azalea on the grounds of Winterthur, Delaware, legacy of Henry Francis du Pont, 1880-1969, American