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On Ukraine
We must hurry, childThere’s nothing left here for usMore metal bees come ~ n.b. Villages are being left to Russian invaders, as Ukraine’s request for help is processed. There is evidence that Russia is also running thin on the machinery of war. Why else would they be using North Korean drones against the people of →
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Dissonance
Ukraine needs much more than moneyHer boys are being buriedBack in Kyiv More men have been mobilisedYounger men to replace older menSend more munitionsAmmunitionBy any meansBut who could re-stock the armsOf mothers missing sons?~n.b. NaPoWriMo 2024 Day 26 prompt: Alliteration, consonance, assonance. CLP 26/04/2024 →
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One Frosty Night…
…when the guns were stillI dreamt of trees with leavesYoung men playing cricketChatter and laughter at a picnicLying face-up beside youWatching the swifts’ chaseAcross vast white pillowsThat dwarfed The MendipsYou squirming with delightGrass tickling your pale thighs~ n.b. NaPoWriMo 2024 Day 24 prompt: One poem from a line from another. This is from ‘Living Sepulchres’ →
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“I want you to show me…”
It’s not a competitionHow easily it is to ignoreUkraine, where lies Babi YarThe ravine that carries a bloodlineTo Israel and PalestineIt’s not a competition ~ n.b. “I want you to show me another country facing over 110 ballistic missiles and drones.” Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, Israeli military spokesman, speaking after the over-night attack on Israel →
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Wish You Were Here
It’s April. Birdsong can be heard during air-raids. Bright flowers sprout through debris. Oh that the spring sunshine would revive the cold skin of our sons and daughters. ~ n.b. Conscription age has just been lowered in Ukraine to 25 years and disability waivers are under review. CLP 07/04/2024 →
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Postcard From Kyiv
Just a quick line thanking youfor not forgetting us.We have no choice but to stay.This is our home.Until the day comes when you can visit again!In peace, with love xxx ~ CLP 07/04/2024 →
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On Ukraine
It’s not over yetCitizens of Kharkiv runMachines need not sleep ~ n.b. Six killed by Iranian manufactured drones overnight we are told. Funny, we are not told who makes the drones that kill women, children and aid workers in Gaza. CLP 06/04/2024 →
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on time
Gentlemen, we meet againI know the chill of that long wallWhere your names are cut in stoneBeside the Haileybury chapelNinety years from your leavingI repaired the cricket squaresWhere you had playedRolled the pitches where you ranFrom wicket to wicket in your whitesResponding to the call of “Yes”As you had been coachedYou set off promptlyWith all →
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on truth
war’s first casualtythere can be no dishonouradmit: I don’t know ~ n.b. Another murderous attack on the innocent. Irrespective of nationality, religion, or politics, how can anyone profit from such intended slaughter? We can trust the body count, the bereaved families, the wounded to account for their losses, but who, or what else? This is →
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on Ukraine
it’s drone versus droneand rocket against rocketuntil one runs out ~ n.b. The battle in the skies, unmanned weapons cancelling out unmanned weapons, can only last for as long as both sides armouries are matched. Economies of all supplying countries enjoy a war bonanza while these two grind out a war of attrition. CLP 15/03/2024 →
Journey of Words 