The Balatzky Family Endures

(Prose narrative rendered with literary attention)

The family of Nikita and Praskovia survived that terrible famine, And all remained alive. As children grew, each one Save Anna made a covenant with Christ through baptism's waters, And dedicated life to Jesus Christ, their Lord and Savior.

In the Evangelical Christian-Baptist Church that Balatzky's attended, Praskovia directed the choir; they asked that Nikita be ordained As elder in the faith. He consented, yet continued his factory work. The first decade after war was terribly hard— Hunger, ruin everywhere. People felt embittered, unwilling to labor, For wages were too low or nonexistent. Sometimes Nikita Worked for others, coming home exhausted, all his strength expended.

In nineteen forty-eight, misfortune came upon the house. One day his workmate gave him a ride in a half-ton truck. At a turn near home, Nikita asked the driver to slow down, Saying he would jump out. His coat hung unbuttoned; As he leaped, his pocket caught upon the door handle— He lost his balance, tumbled underneath the moving wheels.

The driver, feeling something strike, stopped immediately. When he emerged, he saw Nikita lying on the road, With several bones broken. Four months he lay in hospital In traction, then was sent back home. From his injuries, Nikita was given second-class disability and pensioned off.

Six months passed; his strength returned somewhat, yet work Was still required—a family needed more than his small pension. He did not return to the factory, but found employment As a caretaker in a children's home. Soon they needed A carpentry instructor; knowing his skills, the director asked That Nikita take the post. Several years passed slowly; His health began to fail—stomach pains began, His appetite diminished, and the doctors diagnosed an ulcer. They operated, but six months later cancer came, And on March thirteenth, nineteen fifty-six, Nikita Departed into eternity. In his children's hearts remained The memory of a hard-working, caring father and faithful Christian.