Russia
The Hunger Of War
They’re piling up
or splayed out
on streets
body after body
civilians
unarmed
or ill-advisedly
armed
in haste
and heroism
their meat is needed
to feed the hunger.… Read more
Performance Art
He’s the last man standing.
Whether comedian
or statesman
performance is all
for the last man standing.
Standing in the rubble … Read more
Where Are They Now
In 1967 I hitch-hiked to Belgrade.
My friend and I would take an overnight train
to stay with our Albanian friends
in what is now Kosovo.
Until then we … Read more
Ukrainian Woman Offers Seeds
You say to the Russian soldier,
Put these seeds in your pockets,
so when you fall on this land,
at least sunflowers will
spring from your body.
Maria Stepanova … Read more
What We Need Beyond the Pale
Don’t send
Thoughts & Prayers
Don’t send
Bandages
Gauze
Splints
Medical Tape
Syringes
Send
What will keep us
from needing them.
Send
Javelin anti-tank missiles
Counter-battery radar systems
KPV-14.5 … Read more
While I imagine his demise, I wonder what Putin’s mother might be thinking
would she say he never liked
the yellow sun
or the wrinkled blue Georgian skies
that lifted him after climbing out of the
labor camp of her womb?
had he … Read more
Kiev or Kyiv?
say it in Russian
or in true Ukrainian
the stark fact remains
on the scary brink
of catastrophic bloodshed
we wait for Putin
his fragile ego
breeds ambition to rebuild… Read more
I DON’T SPEAK UKRANIAN
I don’t speak Ukrainian,
no way to read their funnies;
Danila the Demonslayer
or the Red Fury. I can’t read
the letters you sent, Zayda,
in Ukrainian and Yiddish. I’m … Read more