Kyiv Winter of ‘22
Far away in Eastern Europe
another country has turned to threaten peace
with the turmoil and high cost of full-blown war.
as speechless with fear we look on.
Remember the troops in the streets of Budapest
in the late November chill of Autumn of ‘56
and the sea-born standoff in the Western Atlantic,
ten days when youth faced age in mid-October of ’62.
The Prague Spring quickly faded in sunlit August of ‘68
for once again tank tracks rattled through city streets
now repeated all these years on in late Winter of ‘22
as the aftershock of gun fire stuttering in the skies
of the Western world and an obdurate Soviet
leader wags a defiant finger as his militia
roll through the suburban streets of Kyiv
and missiles end their flight in a ball of liquid flame.
The outcome is uncertain as countries
hover on the brink of indecision.
Touch this ravaged, tear-soaked earth as you walk
the Emmaus Road with gentle faith of healing.