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Olena Teliha (1907-1942) THE UNIQUE FEAST A hot day — and suddenly the rye is ripening, And heavy grapes hang full. Unknown yet, nor experienced The unique day — my life’s peak. W hat will it be? A meeting, a stillness, a trance? D eath’s touch for a single moment? The soul will ripen, will flood, drink its fill Of the dual portion — of honey and of wormwood. And my wondering heart, shaken, yet relentless Will feel the sure, firm blow. My only day, My unique feast, The highest peak — and first step in the descent. Translated by Jean Wolcott P i per found out all the hardships she endured; and the reason for the arranged “hospitality.” Through this crowd, and the continued parties I could be watched the whole day. W hat clumsy endeavor! As if I could not judge by the villag ers poor dwellings and insuffici ent dress the tru e situation. As if I would not find out from my sister from where the food and liquor came! And I did find out w hat I w ant ed to know. T hat there were fa r few er men than women in the village, a deficiency caused by war," and the post-w ar fig h t of th e U krainian Insurgent Army. Almost all hard work on the col lective farm was done by women. On visiting the farm — a t th e in vitation of the Chairm an — I noticed th a t alm ost all machines were broken, and th a t hand im plem ents prevailed. Later, on crossing Ukraine, from one bor der to another I saw everywhere women working the fields. Be- sides plowing and harvesting, all work is done by hand. As a consequence these wom en are prem aturely old. Most of th e year they walk barefooted. Their calloused hands and splay ed feet told a b itter tale. Many suffer from exhaustion and dis ease. Although medical tre a t m ent is guaranteed by th e state, they are unable to take proper advantage of it. The health cen te r in the near-bytown is hard to re a c h ; you m ust lose a whole day fo r a minor treatm ent. And no m arried woman can afford to lose a day from her proscribed work, and her own small house hold. The small garden plot, her cow or goat, and a few chickens are the basis of her fam ily’s liv ing. * Now th a t the w ierdest fence earth ever saw — aside from the Chinese Wall begun in the 200s B.C. — has been completed, are the furtive, fox-faced guards, young boys in th eir late teens, prisoners them selves between the two rows of electrified barb ed wire, the children of these work-worn m others, whose pool of m other love the Kremlin deli berately dried to make them the b etter serve the ends of the So viet State ? Or are they the recal citrant of Soviet youth, to be so warrened ? A fraid of the camera, where “one picture is w orth 10,- 000 words” ? Oh, the pity of it a ll! Would we m ight reach inside the Fence and show these belea guered people the kindness we feel tow ard them in th eir sur passingly strange extrem ity! O, Soviet village, bereft of earth ’s ancient, rich yielding, “Ghost-town” where hum an dig nity stands mute, m antled in te r ror and sorrow! Jean Wolcott Piper EXHIBIT OF WOMEN PAINTERS The Sixth Annual E xhibit of women painters was held October 22-November 5 in New York. Al m ost all U krainian women paint ers sent th eir works. This includ ed am ateurs, students and m as te r painters. Sponsoring th e exhibit was UNWLA Branch, which started this cultural project six years ago. As always the exhibit a t tracts m any visitors. A rt lovers eager to view new paintings, and to discover and appraise the work of new artists. In addition UNWLA Branch 64 includes in each exhibit a small panel discus sion by qualified a rt critics. On From the Annual Women's Painting- Exhibit in N ew York: Sophie Z a ry t- ska, P aris: Y oung girl. November 4, 1961, two U krain ian artists, Lubomyr Kuzma and Anton M alutsa gave their opin ion of the paintings exhibited, with Boris Rzepecky acting as m oderator. O U R LIFE Edited by Ed i tor i al Board Published by the Ukrainian National Women’s League of America, Inc. 4936 N. 13th St. Philadelphia 41, Pa. НАШЕ ЖИТТЯ — БЕРЕЗЕНЬ 1962 17
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