{"id":8591,"date":"2021-09-16T08:47:07","date_gmt":"2021-09-16T07:47:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stuartpoetry.art\/?p=8591"},"modified":"2021-09-16T08:47:07","modified_gmt":"2021-09-16T07:47:07","slug":"russian-coins-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/2021\/09\/16\/russian-coins-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Russian Coins"},"content":{"rendered":"

100 Kopeks equal 1 Rouble
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

Are you still with me?<\/em><\/p>\n

Lev was sitting on a bench on the platform at Astapovo railway station<\/p>\n

Tuppence and Penelope were sitting in front of him<\/p>\n

Yes we are
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

Then I will carry on
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

The image of St George and the Dragon is to be found on the coins
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

He is the patron saint of Russia
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

Just as he is in England
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

The double headed eagle is the symbol of our great country
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

It faces both east and west
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

Tuppence looked at the sun through her dark glasses<\/p>\n

It is so hot today is it always like this
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

Penelope glanced at Lev but did not say anything<\/p>\n

No it can get very cold much colder that England
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

So this is where he died
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

Yes
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

It is so rural
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

The middle of nowhere really
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

He was like a cat crawling away to die
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

It was more than that
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

His relationship with his wife had become hostile
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

He was running from her
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

But why to\u00a0<\/em>Astapovo?<\/p>\n

He just stopped here
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

He did not deliberately come to Astapovo
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

He just died here<\/em><\/p>\n

Tell me more Lev<\/em><\/p>\n

When is your train?<\/em><\/p>\n

In an hour
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

Ok then I will begin<\/em><\/p>\n

He had been ill for some time and was causing concern to his family
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

He had written about death and had rejected his aristocratic lifestyle<\/em><\/p>\n

And in the middle of the he winter suddenly disappeared
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

People were concerned about him and his departure was followed by many newspapers
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

But he was safe from his wife
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

He had left her a letter explaining his actions I believe that it said that he was leaving his wife as it was what old men did to spend their last days in solitude<\/em><\/p>\n

But he only got this far before illness forced him from the train
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

The stationmaster gave him the use of his house
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

But the station was not as peaceful as it is today
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

The whole thing was a circus
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

The media arrived and there was no peace to be found
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

The Count died in public which was very sad
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

He had not wanted that
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

His wife who had travelled to this station was only allowed to see him when he was at the point of death
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

I doubt that he was aware of her presence<\/em><\/p>\n

Penelope let a small tear drop onto her pale blue vest<\/p>\n

Why are you sad?<\/em><\/p>\n

I was just thinking of poor Anna under a train
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

How can you be sad on a day such as this?<\/em><\/p>\n

Tell me Lev how do you see your country?<\/em><\/p>\n

How do you see yours?<\/em><\/p>\n

A mess run by people who are basically quite limited
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

All leaders are poor
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

That is true in most cases
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

One does not see natural leaders very often
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

Most just climb over corpses to the top<\/em><\/p>\n

I feel scared for the future of my country
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

Why?<\/em><\/p>\n

It is acting like a wounded lion
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

Once it was strong and fierce
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

But times have changed
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

It is just the same as your country
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

One you were strong and to some extent ruled the world
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

But then you grew small
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

Times changed
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

But do you know what I admire about your country?<\/em><\/p>\n

Your sense of fair play
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

I believe that we are the most democratic country in the world don\u2019t you Penny?
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

That depends what you mean by democratic<\/em><\/p>\n

I have always wondered why large countries such as China and Russia can be ruled so tightly from within
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

This would never happen in the UK
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

I do not know why but I do not feel it
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

Enough my friends you are guests in my country and we should not discuss large things
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

A great writer breathed his last here
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

You have travelled many miles to pay homage
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

I welcome your visit and will accept your invitation to visit your great country quite soon
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

Both Lev and Tuppence stood up and walked towards the station building<\/p>\n

Do come
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

I will stay here as I want to enjoy the Russian sun<\/em><\/p>\n

As soon as her friends were out of sight Penelope pulled a paperback from her canvas bag<\/p>\n

She was about to read\u00a0Anna Karenina<\/em><\/p>\n

She had lost her original copy in Moscow but had found an English language copy in Astapovo<\/p>\n

This struck her as unusual but many people visited the town<\/p>\n

It had most probably been left by a backpacker<\/p>\n

She looked at the ground and at the small stones that roasted in the sun<\/p>\n

Quite soon she and Tuppence would be many miles away<\/p>\n

Lev would return to Moscow<\/p>\n

But the small stones would remain<\/p>\n

In a few months they would be covered with snow or at least would suffer the harsh winter<\/p>\n

But if she returned next summer they would be there or nearby<\/p>\n

She wondered if The Count had trodden on them as he made his way towards his final bed<\/p>\n

In the distance she heard a train<\/p>\n

It was time to leave<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

100 Kopeks equal 1 Rouble Are you still with me? Lev was sitting on a bench on the platform at Astapovo railway station Tuppence and Penelope were sitting in front of him Yes we are Then I will carry on The image of St George and the Dragon is to be found on the coins […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8591"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8591"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8591\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8591"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8591"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8591"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}