BELLA AKHMUDULINA'S READ

On Moscow highways
the snow like an hourglass
surfaces from the sky
than falls like kites
or enemy bombers
until there is a blizzard
from such tiny flakes
that your car sputters
along the whitest road
yet Bella
you will not be late
for your reading
crowds are waiting
for over an hour
one little boy, Andrei
and his dad
a once Party official
from Petersburg
made a bouquet
of artificial flowers
for you.