My Dear readers:
Since Ukraine gained independence from the Soviet Union, thirty-two years have passed. With the country now at war with Russia, I would like to share with you the following tanka I published to document the struggle: Ukraine's response to Russia's invasion.
Selected Tanka:
shards of glass
on the living room floor
the pianist
plays Chopin one last time
before fleeing her Kyiv home
a teen's hands
touching her mother's ...
the train window
dis/connects their hearts
broken by blasts in Kyiv
soul-tired refugees
stream through the Polish border
behind the fence
a pianist's fingers dancing
across ivory keys for peace
two teenagers
hold hands on the Polish side
of the border
their farther's V sign
as he drives back to Kyiv
one sanction
after another, another ...
one pile of bodies
on top of another
in smoky twilight
days fly like an hour
an hour crawls like weeks ...
in the shelter
artillery fire on the screen
a world of his own
every day
passes in an endless stream
of breaking news
in a huddle of children
the blind boy quiet ... quieter
silhouetted
against bombed-out condos
a pink-haired girl
plays Cello Suite No. 5
before soul-tired neighbours
no water
no heating, no internet
no Russians either ...
in the morning chill a sea
of blue and yellow flags
one year on
in the world of snow on snow
blue and yellow flowers
at Taras Shevchenko's statue
in Saint Petersburg
on Kyiv's street corner
a combat-suited man sings
Oh, Red Kalyna ...
a boy pointing his stick
trills along in morning chill
If Russia stops fighting, there will be no more war.
If Ukraine stops fighting, there will be no more Ukraine!!!
-- Anti-War Protest Sign
Chen-ou
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