Ukraine Poems

Poems for Ukraine and the Ukrainian people, especially Ukrainian children and their mothers in their time of peril.

These are poems for Ukraine, written in solidarity with the Ukrainian people and with everyone who opposes murder and mayhem as a means to achieve political ends.

 

Hymn for Ukrainian Soldiers
by Michael R. Burch

Sound the awesome cannons.
Pin medals to each breast.
Attention, honor guard!
Give them a hero’s rest.

Recite their names to the heavens
Till the stars acknowledge their kin.
Then let the land they defended
Gather them in again.

I would love for someone to set this poem to music. I’ve had 34 poems set to music by 19 composers, but this one would be especially meaningful, and for the best of causes. 

We Are Here

by Michael R. Burch

“We are here.” - Volodymyr Zelensky

We are here. Were are here.

And we won’t disappear.

We are here. We are here. We are here.

We are here. Have no fear,

our position is clear.

We are here. We are here. We are here.

And yet we need help.

Will earth’s leaders just yelp?

We are here. We are here. We are here.

Our nation stands strong.

Will you choose right, or wrong?

We are here. We are here. We are here.

Now let me be clear,

Vladimir, dear:

WE are here. We are HERE. WE ARE HERE.

Keywords/Tags: Ukraine, Ukrainians, Volodymyr Zelensky, speech, Russia, Putin, invasion, war, resistance, Kyiv, Kiev, freedom, independence, unity, solidarity

Epitaph for a Ukrainian Child

by Michael R. Burch

I lived as best I could, and then I died.

Be careful where you step: the grave is wide.

Frail Envelope of Flesh

by Michael R. Burch

for the mothers and children of Ukraine

Frail envelope of flesh,

lying cold on the surgeon’s table

with anguished eyes

like your mother’s eyes

and a heartbeat weak, unstable ...

Frail crucible of dust,

brief flower come to this:

your tiny hand

in your mother’s hand

for a last bewildered kiss ...

Brief mayfly of a child,

to live two artless years!

Now your mother’s lips

seal up your lips

from the Deluge of her tears ...

For a Ukrainian Child, with Butterflies

by Michael R. Burch

Where does the butterfly go

when lightning rails

when thunder howls

when hailstones scream

while winter scowls

and nights compound dark frosts with snow?

Where does the butterfly go?

Where does the rose hide its bloom

when night descends oblique and chill

beyond the capacity of moonlight to fill?

When the only relief's a banked fire's glow,

where does the butterfly go?

And where shall the spirit flee

when life is harsh, too harsh to face,

and hope is lost without a trace?

Oh, when the light of life runs low,

where does the butterfly go?

I Pray Tonight

by Michael R. Burch

for the children of Ukraine and their mothers

I pray tonight

the starry Light

might

surround you.

I pray

by day

that, come what may,

no dark thing confound you.

I pray ere tomorrow

an end to your sorrow.

May angels' white chorales

sing, and astound you.

The Ghost of Kyiv

by Michael R. Burch

Terrible angel, phantom avenger ...

abandon compassion, take to the skies,

seek out the murderers of women and children,

send them to hell with relentless eyes.

“It would be better for a man to be hurled into the sea with a millstone around his neck, than for him to cause one of these little ones to stumble.” - Matthew 18:6, Mark 9:42, Luke 17:2

Behold the Men

by Michael R. Burch

If ever men were brave, behold the men:

they withstood the tyrant who attacked in vain.

If ever men were brave, behold the men:

the valiant men and women of Ukraine.

Something

by Michael R. Burch

for the mothers and children of Ukraine

Something inescapable is lost...

lost like a pale vapor curling up into shafts of moonlight,

vanishing in a gust of wind toward an expanse of stars

immeasurable and void.

Something uncapturable is gone...

gone with the spent leaves and illuminations of autumn,

scattered into a haze with the faint rustle of parched grass

and remembrance.

Something unforgettable is past...

blown from a glimmer into nothingness, or less,

and finality has swept into a corner where it lies

in dust and cobwebs and silence.

Mother’s Smile

by Michael R. Burch

for the mothers of Ukraine and their children

There never was a fonder smile

than mother’s smile, no softer touch

than mother’s touch. So sleep awhile

and know she loves you more than “much.”

So more than “much,” much more than “all.”

Though tender words, these do not speak

of love at all, nor how we fall

and mother’s there, nor how we reach

from nightmares in the ticking night

and she is there to hold us tight.

There never was a stronger back

than father’s back, that held our weight

and lifted us, when we were small,

and bore us till we reached the gate,

then held our hands that first bright mile

till we could run, and did, and flew.

But, oh, a mother’s tender smile

will leap and follow after you!

Haiku for the Mothers and Children of Ukraine

by Michael R. Burch

How can she bear her grief?

Mightier than Atlas, she shoulders the weight

of one fallen star.

Dark-bosomed clouds

pregnant with heavy thunder ...

the water breaks.

The sun warms

a solitary stone.

Let us abandon no one.

You astound me;

your name on my lips

remains unpronounceable.

Born into the delicate autumn,

too late to mature,

pale petals ...

Soft as daffodils fall

all the lamentations

of life’s smallest victims,

unheard ...

Crushed grapes

surrender such sweetness!

A mother’s compassion.

My footprints

so faint in the snow?

Ah yes, you lifted me.

An emu feather

still falling?

So quickly you rushed to my rescue.

The eagle sees farther

from its greater height:

a mother’s wisdom

Dry leaf flung awry:

bright butterfly,

goodbye!

Late autumn; all

the golden leaves turn black underfoot:

soot ...