her homoerotic verse in a way that was almost alien to her natural poetic voice. She was unsatisfied with the collection and knew before it was published that her next collection was more authentically her own. The Vine (1923) incorporated the influence of Eugenia Gertsyk, presenting her own account in lyrical form of her development as a lesbian poet. Using biblical symbolism, she wrote of the physical rapture and suffering of her body which diverted her quest to grow spiritually and produce poetry as her dedicated vocation. As a group, the intellectual community in Sudak worked on productions for their own entertainment. Parnok and the two Gertsyk sisters wrote verse; Spendiaryan, who was still struggling with opera, wrote songs; Erarskaya, who had taken a job with the Ministry of Education, staged plays. Fighting was fierce in the Crimea and food was scarce. Civil employees were paid in rations, rather than wages, and to supplement their meager food supplies, Parnok tried to work a vegetable garden. In early 1921, she was arrested and sent to a prison in Sudak, where she contracted a severe case of tuberculosis. Adelaida and Spendiaryan were also arrested for failing to support the Red Army but all were released by the following spring. The experience of prison, and survival soon thereafter of a train crash, increased Parnok's fatalism. She had switched seats with another passenger, who was killed when the train derailed. She sustained no injury and for the rest of her life, was plagued by the memory. In June, the General Directorate for the Protection of State Secrets in the Press (GLAVLIT) was created to censor propaganda, state secrets, misinformation, fanaticism and pornography. Fairly quickly, the bureau would begin making lists of banned materials and authors. In December, Parnok and Erarskaya left the Crimea during the terrible famine in a special hospital train, thanks to Voloshon who had specifically requested their right of passage. Return to Moscow In early 1922, Parnok returned to Moscow with Erarskaya and was assisted by Vladimir Mayakovsky, who helped her find lodging and join the Writer's Union. Almost as soon as she arrived, she began experiencing trouble with the censors. Her attempts to help Maximilian Voloshin publish a collection of poems were repeatedly refused. When she tried a few months later to publish a collection of her own works, Centuries-Old Mead, the censors stopped the publication because there were too