the cost of silence is measured in children’s lives #Children #Mariupol

We must face the fact of our immorality,
our complacency, our complicity, timid,
Standing back when we should stand with them,
failing the moral test of this age, this moment,
knowing all too well our common enemy,
his unrelenting terror, abandon,
a willingness to destroy everything
to expand his empire, his kingdom,
prepared to kill innocent children
in wanton acts of terror…
 
Today’s reporting, so grim, so normal, Kyiv,
another high-rise apartment building targeted,
Innocent children murdered in their beds
while the leaders wring their hands,
“Willing” but not “Doing”, not acting,
not stopping aggression, the terror,
daily genocide committed by Russia,
no massive involvement, shared responsibility,
to end the violence, the terror, the madness…
The cost of silence is measured in children’s lives
 
The cost of silence is measured in children’s lives…
Attacks written into the flesh of our hearts, our memory,
on Okhmatdyt, on Kryvyi Rih, on the Mariupol theatre,
but much earlier in Aleppo, in Georgia, in Chechnya…
We knew before the full-scale invasion, Putin,
the enemy we are facing, the Dead Souls of Russia,
their indifference, their inhumanity, soulless people
willing to follow the lust of the madman,
the dictator in the Kremlin, longing for empire…
Allowing this to continue, unchecked,
Year after year, Day after awful day….
 
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Edited August 28, 2025
the cost of silence is measured in children’s lives
 
March 16, 2022 – Bombing of Donetsk Academic Regional Drama Theatre in Mariupol
July 8, 2024 – Attack on Okhmatdyt National Children’s Specialized Hospital, Kyiv
April 4, 2025 – Shelling of the playground in Kryvyi Rih
July 10, 2025 - Human safari FPV drone targeting a one-year old in Kherson
Edited August 28, 2025
Дети – v4
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2025/08/v4.html
Edited August 25, 2025
The cauldrons of Hell – 2 – v2
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2025/08/the-cauldrons-of-hell-2-v2.html
Edited August 21, 2025
Putin walked on a carpet of blood – v2
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2025/08/putin-walked-on-carpet-of-blood-v2.html
Edited July 12, 2025
Unrelenting Terror – v2
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2025/07/unrelenting-terror-v2.html
Edited April 14, 2025
Screaming into the Void – v3
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2025/04/screaming-into-void-v3.html
Revised April 11, 2025
Kryvyi Rih – v2
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2025/04/kryvyi-rih-v2-kryvyi-rih-not-just.html
Edited December 12, 2024
The blood of the dead in Bucha – v6
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/12/the-blood-of-dead-in-bucha-v6.html
typed October 15, 2024
The stain of innocent blood – v5
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/09/the-stain-of-innocent-blood-v5.html
Edited September 25, 2024
History will curse him – v2
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/09/history-will-curse-him-v2.html
August 29, 2024
The dead do not yet rest in peace
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/08/the-dead-do-not-yet-rest-in-peace.html
 
All of my poems, photographs, and videos are copyrighted by Raymond A. Foss, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 202 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025. All rights are reserved. Contact me at Ray Foss (raymondafoss@gmail.com) for usage. See all 53,000+ of my poems at www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.
 
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poetry, Ukraine, Russia, Putin, murder, terror, genocide, children,
 
#poetry #Ukraine #Russia #Putin #murder #terror #genocide #children