ANTONINA ROUSSKIKH - POEMS

Antonina Rousskikh is a student originally from Canada with great admiration for literature and a greater love for writing it. She has written short stories, personal essays, and most often, poetry. She has previously been published in the Little Rose Magazine and Academy of Heart and Mind.

​Little Yellow Bedroom

​Turning the cool doorknob, I stepped on the creaking floor
Entering the small, quiet room that I once knew so well
But it was bashful towards the stranger I had become
And I could hear my shaky breaths and taste the barren air


Still, I heard the young joyous laughter of innocence,
The flip of the worn pages of my favorite book,
The accompanying hum to melodious paint strokes,
And the soft words of warm goodnight wishes


I tasted the sweet and tangy tea of sore throats,
The crumbs of forbidden crackers on the bed,
The rain that flew through forgotten open windows,
And the pollen of the picturesque garden below


I saw the vivid greens of pet plants in clay brown pots,
The silver coat of framed bright nights in Paris,
The heavy navy robe of frigid winter nights,
And the dazzling red velvet of new ballet costumes


Yet colorful memories faded into blanched reality,
The furniture naked without their assorted frivolities
And disappointed wallpaper creeps off the walls,
Fleeing like the all too short nature of childhood


Laughter turned into whispers then into silence
As it got lost in the hardships that invaded the peace,
And soon came adulthood with its gravity and order,
Stealing me away and shutting the cracked white door behind

Lost At Sea

I ran a finger across the thin, crumpled paper
Folded ten times over and tattered from long abuse;
Trailing the confused web of idle paths,
Eyes losing their forced focus as the picture blurred


The wooden boards rocked beneath my feet,
Screeching as a tumultuous wave thrashed below.
It roared angrily as the ship staged a mutiny,
The two savagely battling for the upper hand


However, the bitter storm did not sway me
As it’s familiar promises were a dull lull,
I knew well the threat to pull me to the abyss,
Even the daunting darkness was now a embrace


The thick air mirrored my own distorted thoughts,
They adequately rivaled the grim, unbearable haze
With time too long and gusts of wind too hasty,
Natures sharpest sword dueling rashly


But fear had seized my glass heart as I drifted
Far from one unknown into yet another,
While finally the blade sliced, the uncertainty crushed
And pain shot as stinging shards ran deep


Broken, I jolted as the sword withdrew,
Waves dissolving into the depths of the blue
Only rippling as calmed wind let out a breath,
While the stilled underside fell asleep at last


Once more I ran a defeated finger on the map
Lost in a lost world, I pleated the useless sheet
Tucking it into my tearing pocket and staring at the sky
As I began my futile journey all over again.