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Sunday, May 22, 2022

UKRAINE HAIKU

by G. R. Kramer


On May 20, Dmytro Kozatskyi, a soldier of the #Azov Regiment posted his photos of the defenders of #Mariupol, calling on the world media and those who can help to distribute them. "Well, that's all. Thank you for the shelter; Azovstal is the place of my death and life. See you".


all across the road
blood of butchered                  root in cracks
seed of black spring             bloom
 
weapon
 
below white flowers
we lie with the fray of bees
nowhere people are
 
child
 
mir meant peace to both
when trees leafed over laughter
now           stumps             stand    their     ground
 
      explosive
 
see how the flies help
keep down             the odor of rot
old men in ditches
 
witness
 
may the good endure
tanks missiles sunflowers plows
may the lost                    return
 
annihilate
 
family        stained             red
parlor tatters                      open sky
empty sniper eyes
 
artillery
 
war machines rust out
wind blown blood loam covers steppe
lily bulbs open
 
memory
 
when do nations live
empires feed         death to their dead
human history
 
for get       ting
 
mothers of soldiers
whose blood drains to the black sea
mothers of soldiers

 
G. R. Kramer grew up in Canada, Kenya and the U.S., the child of refugees from fascism and communism. A lawyer by vocation, his passion for writing poetry has rekindled in late middle-age. His first poetry chapbook is forthcoming from Finish Line Press and he has published in numerous journals.