Latvia experienced many nights of terror during the Soviet occupation, when the KGB came to apartments and arrested entire families, loaded them on cattle cars and shipped them off to Siberia. But even those who were fated to escape the terror physically, never escaped its legacy.
On the night that it rained
I went out
you stayed in
I came back
you were gone
That was all.
Someone came
someone went
there was no explanation
I came back
you were gone
that was all
First a knock,
then a shout
on the night that it rained
in a moment
a lifetime
passed on.
Just the clothes
on your back
when you left in the rain
I came back
you were gone
that was all
No a word
not a reason
you wouldn’t be there
Not a sign
that our lives
would be rendered
and torn
I went out
in the rain
I came back
you were gone
that was all
that was all
that was all
I would never
have gone
had I known
what would be
on that night
when I left in the rain
I went out
for a moment
I am coming back still
you are gone
you are gone.
you are gone
October 20, 1999