Hysteria Siberiana
there was a farmer
living all alone like a no-man land ruler
in the Siberian tundra
was he looking for some phenomena
every day, he ploughed and ploughed
dead subsoil and striving seeds fought
but the striving never won
and so far, his farm had grown none
to the north, the south, there was nothing
the east, the horizon, praying for miracles to do some healing
the only things that moved were the man and the sun
and the sky getting its job done
every morning, he rose
went out to the field where his soul was disposed
he took a break when the sun moved directly overhead
when it sank in the west, he went back to bed
one day, something inside him was broken
he tossed his plow aside and walked toward the horizon
like someone being possessed, he walked on and on
till he collapsed on the ground and gone.
that is hysteria siberiana
a mundane life can only go so far.
I came across the term “hysteria siberiana” in Haruki Murakami’s novel: South of the Border, West of the Sun.
