The Poetry of Poverty: ‘Poėma Lestnicy’ by Marina Cvetaeva

The article presents a reading of Marina Tsvetaevaʼs ‘Poema lestnitsy’ (1926) as a critique of the reifying ontology of modern society. The back staircase of the poor becomes the locus of a burning lyrical revolt by the elemental nature of things against their objectifying use. I argue that the poemʼs social and lyrical pathos was inspired by Vladimir Maiakovskiiʼs ‘Oblako v shtanakh’ (1914-1915), but that the theme may also be related to a Modernist ontological debate. The poem presents a metapoetic image of the elemental, non-reifiable poetic world and its resistance to commodification.