A Poem about Ukraine
Fires/March 2022
I piled the wood carefully over paper and kindling,
cross-hatched and balanced, with proper space between logs,
made sure the flue was open,
gently touched the edge of my match at bottom
watched dark smoke and burning shards of newsprint flutter upward
then catch of the wood and sudden flash of yellow flames
lightened smoke
push of warmth behind the fire screen.
Outside through the window, cold winds stirred the snows.
Staring into flames while kneeling before the hearth
felt like praying while the world was on fire.
I read newspapers and watched television carefully over coffee,
processed and assessed with balance and space,
made sure my mind was open,
gently explored the reasons and reactions at bottom
watched dark smoke and burning shards of cities flutter upwards
then catch of the wood and sudden flash of yellow flames
darkened smoke
no push of warmth behind the television.
Outside, through the screen, cold winds stir the snows.
Staring into flaming images while seated before the news report
feels like praying in my pew while the world is on fire.
Far above my house and far above Kyiv
pollution defiles the sky….
About The Author
Stephen Honig
Stephen Honig has been writing fiction and poetry all his life. The sources of his writings are of course his life experiences: growing up in ethnic New York City; attendance at two alleged bastions of Ivy League erudition; a long career in the law with its attendant exposures to people, business and technology; reading everything eclectic along with alleged classics of the Western canon; wide travel including a gig in the USSR in the ‘70s to bring legal briefs to refuseniks; teaching at three colleges and at a law school in Russia; raising two families in very different generations. Now, Honig has completed his first novel, Event, a thriller combining the international espionage style of John Le Carre with the gripping pace of novels by James Patterson. If you’d like to sign up to automatically receive my blog posts, please go to the Contact page and submit the form. Thank you!
Touching poem which so well captures the futility and utter sadness I am feeling, watching this brave country fight to save itself from inhumanity. Thank you for writing it.