touching #bleeding #flesh – v3 #poetry #Ukraine #Russia #NATO #war #invasion #terror #genocide #StandWithUkraine #FourYears #Europe #Zelenskyy #Trump #Putin

the reality of these days, these four years,
the smell of the burning, the vibrations,
too much to be captured in videos,
sterile pieces of remembrance,
commemorating an anniversary, 
When terror came to this land,
in the blare of air raid sirens,
growl of the tanks, crying, screams
of the missiles, endless drones incoming...
 
There is nothing antiseptic, silent, or clean...
raw, visceral, every present, this moment,
a shard cut within them, shrapnel carried,
in our bleeding flesh, our bodies,
the memory present of that day,
when their borders were crossed...
impossible to describe to others,
who have not lived it, reality,
who cannot understand this great pain...
 
touching bleeding flesh, so painful,
of loved ones, in pain, in the moment,
of comrades, civilians, explosions,
on the ground, in the blood-stained dust,
the bodies of the children...
in the quagmire of these moments, 
not in seats of power, across the miles,
living in the visceral reality, each moment, 
memories alive, present, ever present...
 
jagged shards cut into flesh, shrapnel, 
never to be removed, forgotten,
buried deep within them, present,
of each moment carried with them,
the presence of their heroes, their dead,
walking ever with them, flesh of their flesh,
in the crucible of this now, these moments, 
crying from their reality, their pain, 
The memory of that day is ever-present,
Memories that may never fade... 
 
--------------
Edited February 14, 2026
ouching bleeding flesh – v3
 
on the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022
and the thirty-fifth anniversary of my father’s black-ice fatal car accident
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 "
February 14, 2026
Days turned to Years
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2026/02/days-have-turned-to-years.html
On the Fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, February 24, 2026
Edited February 13, 2026
touching bleeding flesh – v2 – defender
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2026/02/touching-bleeding-flesh-v2-written-by.html
(written by a decorated medic on the front lines in Ukraine)
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 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 26^th 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 #terror #genocide #StandWithUkraine #FourYears #Europe #Zelenskyy #Trump #Putin