If You Live In A Graveyard, You

What Would Things Been Like [in Russia] If During Periods Of Mass Arrests People Had Not Simply Sat There, Paling With Terror At Every Bang On The Downstairs Door And At Every Step On The Staircase, But Understood They Had Nothing To Lose And Had Boldly Set Up In The Downstairs Hall An Ambush Of Half A Dozen People?

If You Ever Get Twenty-five Years For Nothing, If You Find Yourself Wearing Four Number Patches On Your Clothes, Holding Your Hands Permanently Behind Your Back, Submitting To Searches Morning And Evening, Working Until You Are Utterly Exhausted, Dragged Into The Cooler Whenever Someone Denounces You, Trodden Deeper And Deeper Into The Ground-from The Hole You're In, The Fine Words Of The Great Humanists Will Sound Like The Chatter Of The Well-fed And Free.

Cracks Make Caves Collapse.

In Our Age, When Technology Is Gaining Control Over Life, When Material Well-being Is Considered The Most Important Goal, When The Influence Of Religion Has Been Weakened Everywhere In The World, A Special Responsibility Lies Upon The Writer.

A Poet Cannot Be A Party Member ... Without Paying The Price.