The Blue Distance, the Cobalt Forests

The blue distance, the cobalt forests,
The faraway road leading straight to heaven.
Blood streaming on the snow, closer all becomes clearer,
But you don’t wander up to your knees in it,
But you have no black hole ripped through your roof
And yesterday your children didn’t die
And armoured personnel carriers didn’t drag
Your eighteen-year-old brothers in tow
Along these roads, in blood-soaked trails.
In the mountains genocide hasn’t yet become normal.
So many tears and blood upon my land,
Conscience of all of Europe – bathe in it!

Alla Dudayeva

Chechnya, a land steeped in the ancient traditions of honour and valour. The Russians have slaughtered so far between ten and twenty-five percent of the Chechen population. Alla Dudayeva is the Russian widow of Djokhar Dudayev, first president of Chechnya, killed by Russian special forces.