For Ukraine

~

we weary at the barrage

there’s no let up, 

bad news travels fast, 

but

what are we supposed to do?

indignation never stopped wars

we all know that, stupid,

hands have to get dirty

blood spilt, things broken

headlines become chip paper

fading memory litter, tumbling 

swirling around the world,

so

we re-write poignant words

berating the bad, shaming evil

offering open arms to the brave

wear their threadbare 

blue and yellow colours, 

and

as the year turns, the thin veneer 

of optimism is repainted, 

re-fortified

rhetoric is polished into blades

prayers are crafted into bullets

children moulded into heroes

to man the barricades

as once again the night sky flashes