by Marilyn Peretti
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| Yuriy Blazhkevych at his home in Brooklyn the day before he left for Ukraine. “I’m so angry,” he said. Photo: Sasha Maslov for The New York Times, March 10, 2022 |
Zoryana says
he never wears socks
just flip flops,
speaking of her father,
Yuriy, who is packing
at his Brooklyn home
to fly to Warsaw.
Will he pack socks
she wonders or still
go bare, even in snow
as he does here in
Brighton Beach, winter
after cold winter.
Yuriy is returning
to his homeland,
Ukraine, to fight
Putin’s army, along with
Ana, Ivan, Bogdani
and Andrey, Americans
stabbed with pain
by the cruel invasion.
As recommended,
Yuriy bought army fatigues,
night goggles, belt
and holder for AK47s,
helmet and boots.
Tearfully, she worries
about his freezing feet.
Marilyn Peretti from near Chicago has been published in various journals over the years, including The New Verse News, Kyoto Journal, Gray Sparrow Journal, Christian Science Monitor, Highland Park Poetry, Snowy Egret. Her most recent book is Behind the Mask in 2020... 2021... .