On 24 February 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin
ordered an invasion of Ukraine by Russian armed forces previously concentrated
along the border. Russian soldiers indiscriminately kill civilians to break a
spirit of the Ukrainian people, protecting their country from unprovoked
invasion. Forbidden by the international community weapon is used, like vacuum
and cassette bombs to increase the casualties. Due to the inability to capture
the major cities, the Russian government became desperate, threatening to use chemical
and tactical nuclear weapon, if the Ukrainian people will not lay their arms.
More than 2 million people fled from the country.
A
poem inspired by the war in Ukraine
By Daniel
Pekker
you
watch a snail, shell curled up like a sleeping child
wander
the vast green of a leaf
little
bites spot the waxy terrain, the world a feast
you
place your index finger before the snail
not a
demand, an invitation
and
the snail sluggishly climbs aboard
the
slime trail tickles as the frontier is crossed
and
there’s a war going on
you
watch the clouds and she watches too
she
is close enough that you smell lavender
all
the stronger when the breeze picks up
both
chilly and unwilling to move
she
points out an anteater wearing a hat
and
you feel her fingers gently nudge yours
all
the warmer between shivers
and
there's a war going on
you
sit on the floor, your back leaning on the front door
it’s
late and you only hear the muffled highway
you
didn’t even take your shoes off yet
the
silence hums like a branch under the weight of its fruit
there’s
nobody to watch, nothing to attend to
just
the day seeping through your fingertips into the carpet
and
there’s a war going on
you
brush your teeth
and
there’s a war going on
her
laugh breaks your scowl
and
there’s a war going on
you
spot green mold on your toast
and
there’s a war going on
you
set the snail down on another leaf and wonder how it’ll get home
and
then remember that snails carry their homes with them
and
the snail will be okay wherever it ends up
and
there’s a war going on
March 2022
