Misfortune’s Black Whisper / To Poetry (Akhmatova). 2018. Hand embroidery on linen, 27.875 x 22.875 in. (70.8 x 58.1 cm)

Misfortune’s black whisper
Nestles warmly to my ear—
And murmurs, as if this were
Its business for the night:
“You wanted comfort,
Do you know where it is—your comfort?”

1936

To Poetry

You led me where there were no roads,
Through darkness like a falling star.
You were bitterness and falsehood,
But comfort—never.

c. 1941–44

Tashkent

— Anna Akhmatova