These were not common, these camp followers
these devoted few women of those sparse survivors
sanctioned so to live or so as cold Sibir awaited
them and theirs to harshest toil and
they themselves impoverished aristocracy

among them none of those five hung – and three hanged twice –
for wanting just to see the end of serfdom’s slavery
made for them the hope of somehow being
in the farthest east Yakutsk or yet perhaps Nerchinsk

the rough and crude, abusive solitude
this callous rule, this cruel administration,
ruthless, tsarist exile could not cause to waver
yea, could not unhinge their fealty

these dedicated brides of brave but doomed men
tho’ sickness and starvation caused to perish those
who could not make it through the bitter winters
these were women of steadfastness, loyalty and ardor

local folk, admirers of the ones who would not swear,
assisted as these women swept their mud floor huts and wept
their husbands hushed and placed in chains in mines
the utter desolation kept at bay by dint of love’s hard labor

no, these were not common, these camp followers
these devoted few women of those sparse survivors
sanctioned so to live or so as cold Sibir awaited