Planted seeds for prosperity –
images of children frolicking
the delight of yellow horizons
tradition setting our fields ablaze
Till greed came knocking –
brother turning on brother
Rhetoric and lies shrapnel
shattering our dreams
Only the deer frolic now
unwitting participants in
this unprovoked slaughter
land mines defiling landscapes
But seeds are not lost,
nor are the legacy of generations
whose soil has known the red of blood
spirits who cannot be deterred
Independence will remain ours
the land a testimony to our toil
fortitude born of oppression
Ukraine stands proud.
(Image my own. Currently, in Ukraine, most areas have electricity outages, leaving inhabitants with hours of no light or heat in this cold. Any talk of peace is propaganda. The bombing has escalated.)