Poems from Siberia

Posted on February 14, 2012

Previously unpublished poem written and sent from Siberia, by a deported Lithuanian school teacher in 1953

On February 10, I organized a reading of poems from Siberia, at the Balzekas Museum of Lithuanian Culture. In reviewing the letters from Siberia on display, as part of the Hope and Spirit project, I found three poems sent by a deported Lithuanian school teacher, to Ms. Julija Lipciute-Geciene, who was living in Montreal, Canada. These are quite moving poems, previously unpublished and not read in public. Ms. Audre Budrys did the honor of reading these poems. In addition, Ms. Irena Valaitis, who was deported to Siberia at the age of 13, recited her own poems and discussed her experiences growing up in Siberia. This program was in Lithuanian.

We do not know the name of the author of these poems. She was a school teacher who was deported to the Sajana mountains, just west of Lake Baikal. We do not know the city where she was from, nor the reason for her deportation. It appears that these poems, dating from 1953, 1954 and 1955 are the extent of her personal artistic legacy.

When I discovered these poems, a few weeks ago, I felt they were indeed powerful, and arranged to have them performed as part of the reading. I also sent a copy of them to the Chicago-based Lithuanian newspaper Draugas. I was astounded to see the February 11’th issue–a full page about these poems! The analysis by Ms. Renata Serelyte was thorough, well beyond my limited literary abilities. She noticed in these poems strands of literature from the noted Lithuanian poets Strazdas, Vienazindis, and the Russian writer Pushkin. I had felt these were powerful poems–I had no idea they actually were diamonds! This woman’s artistic / poetic accomplishments have been recited, published, and critically acclaimed.