For The Lovelorn.

Feeling uninspired on this damp and exclusive holiday, I thought I'd give a little shout out to the lovelorn by means of this poem, written by Alexander Blok in 1910 to the devastating poetess, Anna Akhmatova. Translated from the original Russian by Paul Schmidt.


To Anna Akhmatova

I sent you a rose in a glass of champagne
while the gypsies played as the gypsies do.
Then you turned to the man you were with and said:
"You see his eyes? He's in love with me too."

That night you left me a look in the mirror-
a look I've had too much of.
And the gypsy singer kept jangling her bracelets
and singing of love, and of love, and of love.



That so eloquently said. Here's hoping your Valentines day looks a little something like this:

 Crystal Renn, photo by Ellen von Unwerth


And now a song for us all, in and out of love, courtesy of the one and only Nina Simone.