"(February 24, 2026 — Four Years Since Russia’s Full-Scale
Invasion)
By the fourth year,
you stop asking when it will end.
You learn instead
how long a body can hold heat
after the heart has given up.
How to close a wound
while the artillery keeps speaking.
How to kneel in mud that has known
too many names.
The first year was fire.
The second, disbelief.
The third, exhaustion that tasted like metal.
The fourth—
is bone.
Bone remembering impact.
Bone remembering winter.
Bone remembering who we were
before the sky split open.
Russia sends its steel like weather—
predictable, merciless, seasonal.
We answer with tourniquets,
with hands that no longer tremble,
with promises made quietly
over men and women
who will not see another sunrise.
I have held more dying than birthdays.
I have learned the weight of a helmet
when the head beneath it is gone.
I have pressed my palm
against torn flesh
as if touch alone
could argue with death.
Somewhere far from this trench
they speak of strategy.
Here, we speak names.
Four years.
The invasion grows older.
So do we.
But so does our refusal.
Touching bleeding flesh,
I do not swear in anger anymore.
I swear in certainty.
For every comrade carried out.
For every village that still stands.
For every child who sleeps
because we did not.
Ukraine breathes —
not because the sky is kind,
but because we are.
And today,
as on the first day,
I remain.”
-----
Edited February 13, 2026
touching bleeding flesh – v2 – defender
February 27, 2025
touching bleeding flesh
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2025/02/touching-bleeding-flesh-defender.html
(written by a decorated medic on the front lines in Ukraine)
you stop asking when it will end.
how long a body can hold heat
after the heart has given up.
How to close a wound
while the artillery keeps speaking.
How to kneel in mud that has known
too many names.
The second, disbelief.
The third, exhaustion that tasted like metal.
The fourth—
is bone.
Bone remembering winter.
Bone remembering who we were
before the sky split open.
predictable, merciless, seasonal.
We answer with tourniquets,
with hands that no longer tremble,
with promises made quietly
over men and women
who will not see another sunrise.
I have learned the weight of a helmet
when the head beneath it is gone.
I have pressed my palm
against torn flesh
as if touch alone
could argue with death.
they speak of strategy.
Here, we speak names.
The invasion grows older.
So do we.
But so does our refusal.
I do not swear in anger anymore.
I swear in certainty.
For every village that still stands.
For every child who sleeps
because we did not.
not because the sky is kind,
but because we are.
as on the first day,
I remain.”
Edited February 13, 2026
touching bleeding flesh – v2 – defender
touching bleeding flesh
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2025/02/touching-bleeding-flesh-defender.html
(written by a decorated medic on the front lines in Ukraine)
Edited February 13, 2026
The Cost of Dignity – v2
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2026/02/the-cost-of-dignity-v2.html
Ukraine Olympic flagbearer and Skeleton slider, Vladyslav Heraskevych, wore a helmet with the images of fallen Ukrainian athletes. The IOC ruled he could not wear it even in practice. When he refused to comply, the IOC banned him from participating in the Milan Olympics. This set off a firestorm around the world.
“What Vladyslav Heraskevych did wearing this helmet with the images of dead Ukrainian athletes is wholly consistent with the way the entire country of Ukraine honors its war dead every day, through the Moment of Honor at 9am every morning, in kneeling beside the road as a funeral procession passes, through the days of remembrance throughout the calendar, through the large images of the dead in cemeteries, to all the places across the country that have the images of the fallen.
The fallen are ever-present with the people of Ukraine.
His helmet is the embodiment of how he and the country honor the fallen, all
those killed by Russia, by its genocide in Ukraine.”
Edited December 28, 2025
echoes of the metronome – v3
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2025/12/echoes-of-metronome-v3.html
during Moment of Honor (Вшануй), at 9:00am daily in Ukraine
https://www.threads.com/@moment_of_honor
https://www.facebook.com/momentofhonor/
https://www.instagram.com/moment_of_honor/
“We are a team that promotes the Minute of Silence
Edited December 23, 2025
no minute of silence – v3
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2025/12/no-minute-of-silence-v3.html
based on an Instagram post by Julia Kochetova,
https://www.instagram.com/reels/DRH98GHiKSp/
Edited August 20, 2025
Flying from every flagpole – v5
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2025/08/flying-from-every-flagpole-v5.html
June 4, 2025
to remember the dead
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2025/06/to-remember-dead.html
“to remember the dead is to appreciate the living”
Quote by defender about Cheka Fest, June 1, 2025 in Lviv,
https://www.instagram.com/cheka.fest/
2,000 participants remembered fallen combat medic Iryna "Cheka" Tsybukh,
who died May 29, 2024, days before her 26th birthday on June 1, 2024.
Edited May 22, 2025
You hold each of them so closely – v2
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2025/05/you-hold-each-of-them-so-closely-v2.html
a video (https://www.instagram.com/p/DHlbX7MtEjg/) of Ukrainian women defenders making Ukrainian Easter eggs with a picture of combat medic Iryna "Cheka" Tsybukh on the table.
Edited April 4, 2025
sisters in arms – v3
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2025/04/sisters-in-arms-v3.html
written after reading post by defender of Ukraine about serving as
a woman in the army, for International Women’s Day, March 8, 2025
February 27, 2025
touching bleeding flesh
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2025/02/touching-bleeding-flesh-defender.html
(written by a decorated medic on the front lines in Ukraine)
Edited February 26, 2025
touching bleeding flesh – v2
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2025/02/touching-bleeding-flesh-v2.html
"The present memory of that day" is both 2/24/2022 for Ukraine and Ukrainians
and 2/14/1991 for me personally. I am using my experience of detailed visceral
images of lifting the blood and brains of my father to give even a touch of
authenticity to this poem, merging my conversation with one defender and
the words of that other defender yesterday to write "touching bleeding flesh "
&
Edited February 26, 2025
The present memory of that day – v2
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2025/02/the-present-memory-of-that-day-v2.html
February 25, 2025
Memory of February 24, 2022
as described by a defender of Ukraine, in uniform since 2013.
edited February 15, 2025
Three years of terror, of genocide – v2
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2025/02/three-years-of-terror-genocide-v2.html
March 5, 2022
Don’t give Ukraine to the Madman
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2022/03/dont-give-ukraine-to-madman.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, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026. All rights are
reserved. Contact me at Ray Foss (raymondafoss@gmail.com)
for usage. See my poems at www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com
Poetry Where You Live.
poetry, Ukraine, Russia, NATO, war, invasion, Putin, terror, genocide, Crimea, 1000 Days, Four Years, Europe, Zelenskyy, Trump, Stand With Ukraine, full-scale invasion,
#poetry #Ukraine #Russia #NATO #war #invasion #Putin
#terror #genocide #StandWithUkraine #FourYears #Europe #Zelenskyy #Trump
The Cost of Dignity – v2
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2026/02/the-cost-of-dignity-v2.html
Ukraine Olympic flagbearer and Skeleton slider, Vladyslav Heraskevych, wore a helmet with the images of fallen Ukrainian athletes. The IOC ruled he could not wear it even in practice. When he refused to comply, the IOC banned him from participating in the Milan Olympics. This set off a firestorm around the world.
“What Vladyslav Heraskevych did wearing this helmet with the images of dead Ukrainian athletes is wholly consistent with the way the entire country of Ukraine honors its war dead every day, through the Moment of Honor at 9am every morning, in kneeling beside the road as a funeral procession passes, through the days of remembrance throughout the calendar, through the large images of the dead in cemeteries, to all the places across the country that have the images of the fallen.
Edited December 28, 2025
echoes of the metronome – v3
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2025/12/echoes-of-metronome-v3.html
during Moment of Honor (Вшануй), at 9:00am daily in Ukraine
https://www.threads.com/@moment_of_honor
https://www.facebook.com/momentofhonor/
https://www.instagram.com/moment_of_honor/
“We are a team that promotes the Minute of Silence
Edited December 23, 2025
no minute of silence – v3
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2025/12/no-minute-of-silence-v3.html
based on an Instagram post by Julia Kochetova,
https://www.instagram.com/reels/DRH98GHiKSp/
Edited August 20, 2025
Flying from every flagpole – v5
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2025/08/flying-from-every-flagpole-v5.html
June 4, 2025
to remember the dead
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2025/06/to-remember-dead.html
“to remember the dead is to appreciate the living”
Quote by defender about Cheka Fest, June 1, 2025 in Lviv,
https://www.instagram.com/cheka.fest/
2,000 participants remembered fallen combat medic Iryna "Cheka" Tsybukh,
who died May 29, 2024, days before her 26th birthday on June 1, 2024.
Edited May 22, 2025
You hold each of them so closely – v2
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2025/05/you-hold-each-of-them-so-closely-v2.html
a video (https://www.instagram.com/p/DHlbX7MtEjg/) of Ukrainian women defenders making Ukrainian Easter eggs with a picture of combat medic Iryna "Cheka" Tsybukh on the table.
Edited April 4, 2025
sisters in arms – v3
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2025/04/sisters-in-arms-v3.html
written after reading post by defender of Ukraine about serving as
a woman in the army, for International Women’s Day, March 8, 2025
February 27, 2025
touching bleeding flesh
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2025/02/touching-bleeding-flesh-defender.html
(written by a decorated medic on the front lines in Ukraine)
Edited February 26, 2025
touching bleeding flesh – v2
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2025/02/touching-bleeding-flesh-v2.html
"The present memory of that day" is both 2/24/2022 for Ukraine and Ukrainians
and 2/14/1991 for me personally. I am using my experience of detailed visceral
images of lifting the blood and brains of my father to give even a touch of
authenticity to this poem, merging my conversation with one defender and
the words of that other defender yesterday to write "touching bleeding flesh "
&
Edited February 26, 2025
The present memory of that day – v2
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2025/02/the-present-memory-of-that-day-v2.html
February 25, 2025
Memory of February 24, 2022
as described by a defender of Ukraine, in uniform since 2013.
edited February 15, 2025
Three years of terror, of genocide – v2
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2025/02/three-years-of-terror-genocide-v2.html
March 5, 2022
Don’t give Ukraine to the Madman
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2022/03/dont-give-ukraine-to-madman.html
Poetry Where You Live.
poetry, Ukraine, Russia, NATO, war, invasion, Putin, terror, genocide, Crimea, 1000 Days, Four Years, Europe, Zelenskyy, Trump, Stand With Ukraine, full-scale invasion,
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