I DREAMED I MARRIED A SOVIET

BY

LAUREN HAVESS

My friends, this brief chapter is based upon a series of notes I made years ago. It concerns how life was lived in the U.S.S.R. (which still existed then) at that time. I’d never been much of a history lover, but was “struck” by how gallantly the Soviet people had resisted the Nazi invasion of their nation in the Second World War – especially at Stalingrad – which is renamed Volgograd today. And, being a teenaged girl then, I’d also found their marriage day ceremonies interesting.

So, a few weeks ago, in an effort to impress Ralph Hawk, and persuade him to grant me the privilege of living within his so-called “artistic enclave,” I constructed this “tale” of newlyweds in the former U.S.S.R. But actually, if the truth be told, I’m thinking this piece isn’t really about them so much as it is about my impressions of them. And I want whoever reads it to know that I have only great respect for all the various ethnic groups which once, together constituted the Soviet Union. And this piece is certainly not meant to be derogatory toward them, or how they live today, or how they lived when the U.S.S.R. still existed.

And, in a few weeks I may have further “thoughts” to share regarding these topics. But for now the following is a written piece which initially, a number of years ago, I had entitled “WEDDING DAY IN THE U.S.S.R.,” but which I have now changed to “I DREAMED I MARRIED A SOVIET.”

My darling, today we’ll marry together the wealth which beforehand we shared individually. And although we’re not capitalists, we still realize that what physically exists – does exist. And we know that the wealth which we shall simultaneously possess, share, and distribute, is not only a wealth denominated in rubles, but also a joining together of two lives into one. And may whatever forces control our lives in the future be entities knowledgeable of, and constituted in love and equality. And I believe that must be our unswerving hope; for after today we’ll no longer be two equals among many others, but rather, one equal, still among those many others, but now devoted substantially to ourselves.

And who among our peers could question the inevitability of our love? And though love is such a powerful word, still, in some ways, I fear it’s a weak one also. Sometimes I fear it’s too docile to adequately define the melding together of two hearts into one.

And there’s no doubt in my mind but that we’ll remain as one now until the sickle of death cuts a swath between us. And our enforced equality amongst our fellow countrymen is part of our good fortune. Yet, how brazen we sometimes have been, how selfish, and how unthankful! And haven’t we also, sometimes, in the secrecy of passing thoughts, harbored dissatisfaction with those who equal to us, nonetheless interpret for us the great destiny left by our nation’s founders?

Yes my beloved, we’re indeed fortunate. We’ve been blessed with not only the love which will soon bind us together, but also with the opportunity to live our lives in the greatest and mightiest nation of the world. Indeed, today when we as one flesh leave the state building and place a wreath at the tomb of a great political patriarch, our marriage wish must not only be one of long life together, but also one of peace and prosperity for our great Soviet Union.

But we know that outside our boundaries lies a world of treachery. And our fervent wish must be that our love will blossom unhampered by the “isms” abounding around us there. Today we must remember how, since the Revolution, many have fought here to free us from the domination of imperialism, and also how our predecessors’ blood was spilled on our great nation’s soil to save us from the horror of fascism.

This Soviet Union is our birthright and heritage. And thus, today we’ll stand together, united, our strong love intermingled with the patriotism of our fellow man. And this love and patriotism alone, unadulterated by any belief in otherworldly spirits or deities, will be our marriage covenant.

But yes, we know that in those nations in which greed, crime, and debauchery thrive, our socialist way of life is mocked and hated. Nevertheless, the capitalists’ desire for more money will be exposed through their hatred of us and our way of life.

And yet, today we know our sincere love will help us shield ourselves from the corporate lust for monetary and earthly gains. And ours is a destiny of socialist freedom so great that it extends throughout our Union’s various republics, and on outward across our “satellite” democracies in eastern Europe.

And though we don’t believe in gods or deities, we have a few solemn prayers. And those are that our nation shall always remain strong, and shall always be the leader of the free world. And yes, in the privacy of all we imagine, we’ll ask also that our love for each other shall remain strong always, and that never in personal thoughts, shall we allow ourselves to believe that anyone else, anywhere, lives life better than us.