Ten Haikus for Ukraine
For two weeks now my mind has been preoccupied with the war in Ukraine. I’m trying to find balance, but my heart is constantly aware of the travails of that great nation right now. If I’m enjoying my lunch I immediately think of the refugees fleeing their homes hungry and stripped down to bare essentials hoping they get to safe and welcoming territory alive. I cry through news reports. I have found some solace in contributing to Relief Agencies – putting my money where my heart, prayers, and griefs are.
Oddly, I find I can’t articulate my anxieties very well. I’m too likely to scold myself for “over-feeling”. But what’s a sensitive person to do who has been trying to nurture compassion as a life standard? Instead of writing an essay, words seem to fail me so I have squeezed out some of my prayers/anxiety/powerlessness into snippets that capture the oozing edges and the tears/tears (both pronunciations of that word) in my heart I have been living with since I first heard of the unjustified invasion of Ukraine by Russia’s President Putin. Forcing myself to find a mere 27 syllables (5-7-5) has been therapeutic.
I encourage others to try it because, as I have been persuaded over a lifetime, creating art of any kind – including haiku – helps heal, name, console, and empower.
Here are mine. Feel free to share yours in the comment section. We are, after all, in this together.
Brave man in t-shirt
Taunting the tyrant’s tigers:
“Slava Ukraini!”
Channeling Churchill’s
“Forests, fields and on the shores”
He fosters courage.
With cane and satchel
She trembles over the bridge,
Leaning on heros.
Three at hospital
Eviscerated by bombs.
Blood of innocents.
Persuasive and sly
Putin “lies confidently”
To the duped Russians.
Arms full of children
Refugees flee their homeland
Carrying its dreams.
Far away in tears,
Americans hear news that
Spews catastrophe.
Courageous in Kiev,
Sunflowers will bloom among
The rubble and gore.
Pray for our planet.
Ask “Where can we turn for peace?”
Whisper among screams.
We are swaddled in
Our global grief, united
In perseverance.
Linda, I cried through your haikus like I cry through the news reports. But I love your suggestion. I’ll work on some more, but here’s my first:
Sanctions in Russia
Impact the lowliest most
War batters the poor
Just three tiny lines. Yet packed with heart scars and unifying power, binding us together in common empathy.