Onfim
Onfim
Onfim
by Rebecca Lipperini
birch bark— softI’m seven— I go to school1220— maybe 1260 in the city, the streets are paved with woodthe city is already more than three hundred years olda time scale represented in the rings of trees along the wooden streets, a five domed stone cathedral— white as birch barkinside, frescos and icons line the walls in patterned rowsSaints Constantine and Helena in red ochre, umber, and green earth their hands are clasped around an azurite wooden crossHelena had dug the wood up from the ground in Palestinein 326— as distant from me as you are the cathedral is St. Sophia, meaning holy wisdomand inside, a library— and below, graves— and outside, mewriting my psalms on birch bark Greetings from Onfim to DaniloI draw myself and my teacherI draw us together with our friends I draw myself – as a knight! on top of a horseI draw myself as a wild beast – I caption it – I am a wild beast!I breathe fireauthor's note: I came across the writings and illustrations of Onfim, a young boy from 13th-century Novgorad, through the usual means (the internet). I was so moved by the idea of this seven-year-old boy writing his schoolwork and doodling in the margins– and of all of it preserved on wood. You can read more about Onfim, and see some of his illustrations, here.
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Featured in our September 2021 issue, "Nostalgia"