A poem inspired by the war in Ukraine

 

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