by W. Luther Jett
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| The small motor boat carrying Tetiana Svitlova and her husband, Vladyslav Svitlov, was hit by gunfire as the couple crossed the Dnieper River on Sunday. (Heidi Levine for The Washington Post, December 6, 2022) |
For Tetiana Svitlova, 75, who was shot by a sniper while crossing the Dnieper from Russian-occupied territory to liberated Kherson.
There is snow on the boat now
where the woman fell
while crossing the river two hours
ago—where the woman
in that moment reached out for
her husband—two
hours ago mid-river the woman
fell—snow covers
the boat—the place where she fell
crossing the grey river—
she was shot—have we mentioned?—
that is why she fell—
crossing the river now is dangerous—
there is snow now
to cover the place she—the woman—
bled out crossing
the river—on her way to safety
W. Luther Jett is a native of Montgomery County, Maryland and a retired special educator. His poetry has been published in numerous journals as well as several anthologies. He is the author of five poetry chapbooks: Not Quite: Poems Written in Search of My Father (Finishing Line Press, 2015), Our Situation (Prolific Press, 2018), Everyone Disappears (Finishing Line Press, 2020), Little Wars (Kelsay Books, 2021), and Watchman, What of the Night? (CW Books, 2022).