The Moscow Poetry File

In 2004 an American businessman was invited to Moscow to explain a new technical development to the Government there. Little did he know that this would the beginning of life altering process leading to the love he had always sought but never found as well as a way back to a career as an artist that had escaped him. Between 2004 and 2013 he discovered not only the perils of life in Moscow but also something of the beauty and humanity of its people. Despite many personal struggles he, along with the woman who would later become his wife, overcame many of the issues inherent in an intergenerational and cross-cultural relationship and made it, literally, and sometimes nearly at the cost of their lives, to the other side. Many tragic events in Russia framed his time there but the most profound personal impact was felt by the murder, in October 2006, of his neighbor at Lesnaya 8, the journalist Anna Politkovskaya. The clearly political Politkovskaya killing sounded the death knell for a free press in Russia and the ever-tightening grip of Putin's regime on all aspects of life there. Though most Russians support Putin both the author and his wife were deeply moved by the few who struggle against him and were proud to know some of the artists and intellectuals emblematic of what little true resistance remains there. A love for these few is expressed in many of the poems in the book. Be it on the sidewalk on Tverskaya Street, in the Metro, Restaurants or Clubs, 'The Moscow Poetry File' gives the reader, in poetic form, a true insight into life there and the danger as well as the excitement inherent in virtually every aspect of daily life. The book is also a great love story and depicts the struggle of two people finding their way to each other despite enormous odds. This struggle, and the triumph of love and mutual respect over adversity is an underlying theme in the book that is depicted with telling effect. 'The Moscow Poetry File', which has been anthologized in the 'Temptation' anthology published by Lost Tower in London, is a compelling view of a dynamic place at a tragic and pivotal time. With "all things Russian" much in the news since the advent of Trump this detailed American perspective, from the ground level, is a unique study, in verse, of a society and culture still mysterious and perplexing to the Western eye.