Poems by Andrei Galkin
By Andrei Galkin
The grin-growl, the howl
The hop and the caw, the croak
The crown of branches, the roar
To grow in the soil and stand
The elders around
The grin-growl, the scream
The swift wings of thought and its keen claws
In the play and the free roam
To grow deep and stand still
With the elders around, among them
The white whip of the sky cracks
Across it, the wrath rocks roll
Free you shall flow
Free you shall fall
The feeders, you feed
To the givers, you give
Ones who grow green and stand still
Firm are the grey brothers, green is the fur
Warm in the heat
Cold in the cold
In the strength-song of the sky king
For the ones who grow green and stand still
For the elders, and who is among them
“A Path in the Shadow — Elk
By Andrei Galkin
a path in the light
and a path in the shadow
beginning with power, not strength
generations
in absence
in fear
in need
in the snow, it was written
the mark of the ravens was Algiz
the one with the branches in summer
in summer, the grass
and in winter, the bark of the birch
when the soil is covered
and nothing can grow
it is also the mark of the crows
in absence
desire is sleeping in burrows
as blizzards are wailing
a path in the shadow
one need for another
through anger and hatred
endure
but the roots in the ground
the snow will be keeping them warm
there’s a path in the light
what the branches were reaching towards
for as long as the ground is warm
“Balkan Coast”
By Andrei Galkin
The rocks and the boulders are white
In the yellowish grass on the slope of the mountain.
I wonder
If something should stay on the texture,
If something should stain it.
So, maybe
So, maybe the lichen’s enough.
In the sun,
There are sparrows, with feathers of clay-red and copper-red,
Hopping on withered, white juniper bones.
Then, the wind pulls a blanket of clouds above us.
The green of the beeches is rich now.
The woodpecker’s knocking.
A wolf, black like coal,
Took a look at the land from the top of the rocks
And it is what they all are forever aware of
Flames
That are travelling, spreading
Consuming the bleak of the green and the yellow
And leaving the coal
And the fire consumes
So I go to the rocks and I stain them
- Andrei Galkin lives in London, UK and explores nature-based, animistic faith
and how it changes his view of the megapolis. He has recently finished a
linguistics degree and is looking forward to starting a café in Edinburgh,
closer to the Scottish Highlands and forests. He is also interested in helping
people who struggle with their mental health, and has written about his own
process of recovery.