I know it is really better known as a song but for me it also works as a poem too! I studied Russian at school and this was the poem that the Russian students I spoke to in Leningrad really loved and identified with. It cut across all the barriers of language and culture and showed that we are all (deep down) the same. Those sentiments seem even more important these days.

Lorraine Kelly is a television presenter and journalist. She hosts GMTV.