BLEEDING

by Mykyta Ryzhykh 

All non-critical infrastructure in the Ukrainian port of Odesa was without power after Russia used Iranian-made drones to hit two energy facilities, leaving 1.5 million people without power, officials said on Saturday. All non-critical infrastructure in the Ukrainian port of Odesa was without power after Russia used Iranian-made drones to hit two energy facilities, leaving 1.5 million people without power, officials said on Saturday. —Reuters, December 10, 2022

Today, we are imposing sanctions on three Russian entities connected to Moscow’s growing military relationship with Tehran – a relationship that includes the transfer of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) from Iran. The Kremlin is deploying these UAVs against Ukraine, including in large-scale attacks on civilian infrastructure. —US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, December 10, 2022

while the metal birds of death 

want to peck out our eyes 

 

bald eagle of flesh and blood 

flies towards winter

 

frosts are not terrible for 

those who are bleeding

Mykyta Ryzhykh from Ukraine (Nova Kakhovka Citу). Winner of the “Art Against Drugs” international competition. Published in the journals Dzvin, Tipton Poetry Journal, Stone Poetry Journal, Divot journal, dyst journal, Superpresent Magazine, Allegro Poetry Magazine, Alternate Route , Better Than Starbucks, Littoral Press.

PAEAN TO AUTUMN

by Earl J. Wilcox

Whitman manuscript at Duke University Libraries.

None would have believed last fall—

a serene, simple season of coolish

weather, baseball season winding

down, tailgating, leaf peeping,

early frosts all—sublime memories

of a time before now: wildfires, 

hurricanes, Covid deaths, floods, 

earthquakes, melting ice caps, 

hummingbirds astray and lost,

migrant camps afire, baseball

season so bizarre even umpires

get the blues. We need more

Whitmans, fewer Plaths, a couple

of Frosts, a seashore Oliver. 

Even an old-fashioned Wordsworth

or Shelley might spirit us away

toward winter already on its way

on this first week of autumn.

Earl J. Wilcox has sung his share of September songs.