Follow your heart

Thoughts leap like squirrels on ancient boughs,

Like dolphins piercing ocean’s vows.

In my veins, the tales of warriors glide,

Burning brighter than tides of time.

Petersburg sprawls in tempest’s wail,

Its soul alive, its heart so frail.

Yet through its gloom, its endless night,

I search for clarity, for guiding light.

III.

You are my cradle and my abyss.

Oh, Petersburg, my eternal throne,

Veiled in beauty, to me you have shown—

That from the swamp you rose with pride,

Your copper steeds through mists abide.

The Bronze Horseman’s stern gaze holds fast,

Guarding your splendour, from future to past.

You—the keeper of restless dreams untold,

A realm of fire, of frost, of gold.

Forgotten by none, you shape our fate,

Where spirits rise and storms abate.

I breathe your mist, your briny air,

And find my solace lingering there.

Your rains of grey, your ceaseless weep,

Where madness and prayers their secrets keep.

You are the moment, the fleeting spark,

A city of light, of shade, of dark.

IV.

When the night falls silent, the city dreams on.

Soft slides the drop, the night retreats,

The owl’s call echoes through empty streets.

The city’s pulse beneath shadows keeps,

A thousand whispers the darkness reaps.

The bronze sentinel, cold and stern,

Watches dreams as they twist and churn.

A silent shepherd of timeless lore,

Guarding legends for evermore.

Who are you, keeper of shadow and stone?

What stories linger, what deeds atone?

Your storms have sculpted iron and gold,

Your nights a canvas, a tale untold.

V.

In you, I was born; in you, I found myself.

What do I see in you, my beloved Petersburg?

The dream of my youth, a distant mirth.

Your spires rise where shadows merge,

Your alleys weave through time and earth.

Your courtyards cradle whispers of rain,

Where love and loss leave their fleeting stain.

The sigh of trees in gardens bare,

The cries of gulls fill the frozen air.