I see your deep love for each of them,
a part of each one of you, present with you,
gathering your honored dead to you, lovingly,
ever present, today, now, alive, as close as breath…
They are part of you, your fabric, your
identity,
as lines woven in a vyshyvanka, your culture,
hand to heart, to linen, washed in blood,
in their sacrifice for your country…
I see how you honor them, in each moment,
in a continuous procession, rituals of memory,
how you hold them to you, to your hearts, forever,
ever present, today, now, alive, as close as breath…
Hold each of them closely, forever, present,
their legacy of love, of sacrifice, a bond sustaining,
the honored dead with you, present, living,
in their sacrifice for your country…
a part of each one of you, present with you,
gathering your honored dead to you, lovingly,
ever present, today, now, alive, as close as breath…
as lines woven in a vyshyvanka, your culture,
hand to heart, to linen, washed in blood,
in their sacrifice for your country…
in a continuous procession, rituals of memory,
how you hold them to you, to your hearts, forever,
ever present, today, now, alive, as close as breath…
their legacy of love, of sacrifice, a bond sustaining,
the honored dead with you, present, living,
in their sacrifice for your country…
March 25, 2025
Hold each of them closely
March 24, 2025 posts on X:
“The acts of Ukrainians, like kneeling as a funeral procession passes for fallen defenders or the Moment of Honor every morning at 9:00am, or the photographs on gravestones of those lost in this war, all show how love is part of the Ukrainian culture.
March 24, 2025
This is the video that speaks to the culture of Ukraine...
https://www.instagram.com/p/DHlbX7MtEjg/
&
Edited March 8, 2025
sisters in arms – v2
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2025/03/sisters-in-arms-v2.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 defender of Ukraine
&
edited February 15, 2025
Three years of terror, of genocide – v2
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2025/02/three-years-of-terror-genocide-v2.html
Edited January 13, 2025
Sacred Days – v3
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2025/01/sacred-days-v3.html
Edited December 8, 2024
Stealing his identity – v2
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/12/stealing-his-identity-v2.html
Edited December 2, 2024
Stealing History – v2
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/12/stealing-history-v2.html
Edited November 29, 2024
Designs of their culture – v3
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/11/designs-of-their-culture-v3.html
Edited September 6, 2024
Flying from every flagpole – v2
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/09/flying-from-every-flagpole-v2.html
Edited May 24, 2024
A cloak of the dead – v2
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/05/a-cloak-of-dead-v2.html
In this poem I am trying to convey that the dead of Ukraine,
your heroes, are cloaking every #warrior, as if with a new
Vyshyvanka, against your skin, under the armor, the
white fabric's embroidery have been woven with threads
of the blood of the fallen, protecting each of you.
They are your shield, your invisible armor.
I tried to write the poem in the shape of a
Ukrainian Easter Egg, a Pysanky.
poetry, Ukraine, defenders, victory, peace, Stand With Ukraine, Glory to the Heroes, culture, identity, unity, love, spirit, legacy, Taras Shevchenko, Ukrainian, Pysanky, Vyshyvanka,
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