Leader of a woman's climbing team, all of whom died in a storm on Lenin Peak, August 1974. Later, Shatayev's husband found and buried the bodies.

The cold felt cold until our blood
grew colder then the wind 
died down and we slept

If in this sleep I speak
it's with a voice no longer personal
(I want to say with voices)
When the wind tore our breath ( Read more... )

If you have taken this rubble for my past
raking through it for fragments you could sell
know that I long ago moved on
deeper into the heart of the matter

If you think that you can grasp me, think again:
my story flows in more than one direction
a delta springing from the riverbed
with its five fingers spread

(1987)