They closed down Detsky Mir
Where do the children go from here?
Detsky Mir’s lost generation
On each Novy God celebration
To developers, politicians who spoil our chance
That can’t show off our child’s dance
They stole the heart from our capital
And surrounded it by nothing of worth at all
…simply expensive billboards
Leave kids empty, and no chance
To experience, the feeling to be happily small
As we gather our patch, secure every square meter
We give nothing back at all
They closed down Detsky Mir
Where do the children go from here?
A lost generation
On each Novy God celebration
I remember a feeling of joy, to be surrounded by toys
Heading for a Lebanese supermarket on the 5th floor
There was a beauty; they did it all
And then they closed complete, but why?
Now, the lights inside barely shine
They take up the street on every side
Even the 5* Hotel Savoy in infringed upon
The pavements on all sides along Kuznetsky Most has gone
Saddened me in 2010; was to tell two 20-something kids (from Ulyanovsk) that their dream was gone
…that it closed, pardon, under remont, but not
No doubt this real estate deal put hundreds out of work,
…to achieve a developers’ dream
Was zero effort done except by the sign-writer extending the start/end date
Yeah right?
…gosh they only started yesterday what a great job they are doing 5-years later
They closed down Detsky Mir
Where do the children go from here?
A lost generation
On each Novy God celebration
Municipality promise repair
With time, shall we remember or no more care
We accept quietly, regrettably, their terms
Tcentraly Market, Tsvetnoy Boulevard, closed under huge protests
Subsided by promises of return and city boasts
Reopened a decade and a half later:
Channel blah blah blah and an excuse of a market on the top, what market?
Will Babushka shop there now?
It will be, we passively, the new generation, the guardians of the memory of our once special days at Detsky Mir, yield to wealth
It’s just real estate, and after all function is secondary; visibility deserves international brands, Maserati and Porsche
Our children are consumers
What chance to experience joys we did, did we?
They stole the heart from our capital
Shame on us
They closed down Detsky Mir
Where do the children go from here?
A lost generation
On each Novy God celebration
We give nothing back at all
We give nothing back at all
We give nothing
Audio – They Closed Down Detsky Mir
They Closed Down Detsky Mir – Author’s Note:
In July 2008, the iconic Detsky Mir (“Children’s World”) department store on Lubyanka Square, once the largest children’s store in the Soviet Union and a beloved cultural landmark for generations, closed its doors for what was announced as a brief two- to three-year reconstruction. The building, dating from 1957, had been deemed physically and technologically obsolete. Still, its closure marked the end of an era for a site long regarded as the Soviet Union’s temple of childhood. Within its walls, millions of families had bought their first toys, books, and school uniforms, making it not merely a shop but a cultural institution woven into the collective memory of several generations.
However, the redevelopment proved far more protracted and controversial than planned. Significant works by developer Hals-Development did not begin in earnest until several years after the project’s closure, despite its seven-year duration, escalating costs, and final aesthetic, which drew sharp criticism. When the complex finally reopened on 31 March 2015 as the Central Children’s Store on Lubyanka, the result was a gleaming, high-end retail and entertainment mall filled with premium international brands. Many Muscovites felt that the reborn store, though architecturally restored, had lost its soul, no longer the people’s Detsky Mir, but an exclusive monument to post-Soviet consumerism, standing uneasily opposite the stern façade of the FSB headquarters on Lubyanka Square.
Return to the Beginning of the Poem
Go to the following poem in the collection: “Too Easy“