both men

It is to the caged hand

   the Arm extends,

           and whether up

       or up and over,

             both men 

                        sing.

This poem is about two men.  One is Gregory Petrov who died in a prison camp in Russia in the 1940's, praising God to the end.  The other man is someone who miraculously escaped and walked for many, many miles over the Siberian mountains to freedom.

In the midst of suffering, Gregory Petrov wrote one of the most beautiful Orthodox hymns I've ever heard:

 

http://www.saintjonah.org/services/thanksgiving.htm