SANTERI "SANTTU" MÄKINEN

In the shadow of the red castle

where some fragment of his shade

may linger, we talk of him, the

patriarch too poor to be

buried in a common grave.

His wives, his children, the

son-in-law who stole

money left for his medicine

as he lay dying; a life

ending in tuberculosis and a stroke

after those few splendid months he

wore a red armband and fought at Tampere.

Here he worked, drove

the horses, where

light now rises up the

red brick and the windows shine

with black. There

may linger some

fragment of his shade.

14.12.2018