The English are still talking about that time
in 1914,
Christmas in the trenches, shit hole, no man’s land, Belgium,
they stopped shooting and shook the Germans’ bloody hands.
Naturally, we in the East had something similar,
equally noble and poignant,
even respectfully acknowledging our different dates.
…
Our Germans: Austrian, Slavic & Hungarian.
Half-frozen kabanossi, kolbasa, slivovitz, black bread and salami.
Christmas respite. Brief peace. We appreciate.
Then the orders come from the scum above (hate)
and the horrors resume.
And we spit on festive cheer.
O’ futility!
Christmas in Galitsiya.
©SvetkaSamizdat
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