#Living #History – v2 #poetry #Ukraine #God #prayer #sacrifice #remembrance #honor #heroes #martyrs #victims #defenders

They are not distant, a memory;
They are present, palpable, now...
They can touch, feel this
those who have fallen
all that has been lost
over days, these months...
over all the years,
the centuries of strife...
 
Sacred days on the calendar -
precious Moments of Silence -
We must remember each name,
each defender, each victim,
the martyrs of Ukraine,
alive in living history,
with them, always,
as close as breath...
 
-----------
Edited October 5, 2026
Living History – v2
 
September 28, 2026
Living History
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2026/09/living-history.html
October 1, 2026
Day of Defenders and Day of the Defenders of Ukraine
Edited February 19, 2026
You hold each of them so closely – v3
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2026/02/you-hold-each-of-them-so-closely-v3.html
February 19, 2026
Every. Single. Day.
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2026/02/every-single-day.html
Instagram post by Olena_Ivanenko_rij
https://www.instagram.com/stories/olena_ivanenko_rij/3835849990073791731/
“Хвилина памʼяті
згадувала братів за якими дуже сумую
кожен день 9:00 честь”
“A moment of remembrance, remembered the brothers I miss so much,
every day 9:00 honor.”
Edited February 18, 2026
to remember the dead – v2
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2026/02/to-remember-dead-v2.html
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2026/02/to-remember-dead-v2.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/
where 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 February 17, 2026
The present memory of that day – v3
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2026/02/the-present-memory-of-that-day-v3.html
Memory of February 24, 2022, the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion,
as described by a defender of Ukraine on February 25, 2025
Edited December 1, 2025
Sacred Days – v4
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2025/12/sacred-days-v4.html
Edited September 6, 2024
Flying from every flagpole – v2
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/09/flying-from-every-flagpole-v2.html
August 27, 2024
The Flag of their Independence
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/08/the-flag-of-their-independence.html
National Day of Remembrance – August 29, 2024
Ukraine Independence Day – August 24, 2024
Ukraine National Flag Day – August 23, 2024
Edited August 30, 2024
The dead do not yet rest in peace – v2
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/08/the-dead-do-not-yet-rest-in-peace-v2.html
August 29, 2014
Edited August 28, 2024
The whisper of the dead – v2
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/08/the-whisper-of-dead-v2.html
July 16, 2024
The Sound of Lviv Cemetery
https://x.com/United24media/status/1813323219954241935
Edited August 1, 2024
Resolve personified – v3
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/08/resolve-personified-v3.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, God, prayer, war, tragedy, terror, genocide, Russia, peace, Kharkiv, Kyiv, Lviv, Day of Remembrance, Ilovaisk, Poltava, Independence Day, Holodomor, Defenders Day, National Anthem, defenders
 
#poetry #Ukraine #God #prayer #sacrifice #remembrance #honor #heroes #martyrs #victims #defenders

#Living #History #poetry #Ukraine #God #prayer #sacrifice #remembrance #honor #heroes #martyrs #victims #defenders

Not distant, a memory,
present, palpable, now...
They can touch, feel this
those who have fallen
all that has been lost
over days, months...
over centuries of strife...
 
Sacred days on the calendar -
precious Moments of Silence -
Remember each name,
each defender, each victim,
the martyrs of Ukraine,
alive in living history,
with them, always,
as close as breath...
 
-----------
September 28, 2026
Living History
 
October 1, 2026
Day of Defenders and Defenders of Ukraine
Edited February 19, 2026
You hold each of them so closely – v3
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2026/02/you-hold-each-of-them-so-closely-v3.html
February 19, 2026
Every. Single. Day.
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2026/02/every-single-day.html
Instagram post by Olena_Ivanenko_rij
https://www.instagram.com/stories/olena_ivanenko_rij/3835849990073791731/
“Хвилина памʼяті
згадувала братів за якими дуже сумую
кожен день 9:00 честь”
“A moment of remembrance, remembered the brothers I miss so much,
every day 9:00 honor.”
Edited February 18, 2026
to remember the dead – v2
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2026/02/to-remember-dead-v2.html
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2026/02/to-remember-dead-v2.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/
where 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 February 17, 2026
The present memory of that day – v3
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2026/02/the-present-memory-of-that-day-v3.html
Memory of February 24, 2022, the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion,
as described by a defender of Ukraine on February 25, 2025
Edited December 1, 2025
Sacred Days – v4
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2025/12/sacred-days-v4.html
Edited September 6, 2024
Flying from every flagpole – v2
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/09/flying-from-every-flagpole-v2.html
August 27, 2024
The Flag of their Independence
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/08/the-flag-of-their-independence.html
National Day of Remembrance – August 29, 2024
Ukraine Independence Day – August 24, 2024
Ukraine National Flag Day – August 23, 2024
Edited August 30, 2024
The dead do not yet rest in peace – v2
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/08/the-dead-do-not-yet-rest-in-peace-v2.html
August 29, 2014
Edited August 28, 2024
The whisper of the dead – v2
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/08/the-whisper-of-dead-v2.html
July 16, 2024
The Sound of Lviv Cemetery
https://x.com/United24media/status/1813323219954241935
X (formerly Twitter) post by United24 Media
Edited August 1, 2024
Resolve personified – v3
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/08/resolve-personified-v3.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, God, prayer, war, tragedy, terror, genocide, peace, Kharkiv, Kyiv, Lviv, Day of Remembrance, Ilovaisk, Poltava, Independence Day, Holodomor, Defenders Day, National Anthem, defenders
 
#poetry #Ukraine #God #prayer #sacrifice #remembrance #honor #heroes #martyrs #victims #defenders

A #war of #genocide – v4 #poetry #Ukraine #God #prayer #war #tragedy #terror #genocide #Russia #peace #Poltava #Kharkiv #Kyiv #Lviv #DayofRemembrance #Ilovaisk #FlagDay #remembranceday #Holodomor #Tatar #BabiYar #DefendersDay #IndependenceDay #NationalAnthem

Twelve years, acts of terror, erasure,
a hybrid war of evil, of genocide,
seeking to destroy their culture…
An existential threat, survival,
bombing icons, treasures, history,
seeking to destroy printing, literature,
even denying the names of their cities,
denying their right to even exist…
 
Purposeful evil, terror, war crimes,
systematic erasure, propaganda,
stealing history, denying existence,
appropriating that which isn’t theirs…
Claiming their rights, their power,
usurpers in their midst, oppressors,
trying to control, to steal, to diminish,
that which makes them unique…
 
Fighting an aggressor, a false master,
a bully, an empire, a capital rising,
built on terror, the backs of the fallen,
their falsehoods, their fabrications,
a narrative, a lie of conquest, propaganda,
their origin story another’s history…
These good and noble people living,
in power before they came to exist…
 
An amalgam of nations, of subjugation,
centuries of repression, torment, struggle,
pushing nations into slavery, serfdom…
A bloodlust for conquest, for empire,
harsh masters, subordination, defiance,
only seeking dominion, erasure,
not seeing them as their brothers,
not seeing their holy right to exist…
 
Taking what wasn’t, what isn’t theirs,
stealing history, destroying culture,
a bloody war of attrition, of genocide,
Today again creating scorched earth;
But these People are rising resolute, resilient,
speaking with power, “Never Again!” …
This time, We will fight for independence…
This time, We will fight and win…
 
-----------
Edited June 25, 2026
A war of genocide – v4
 
This poem is about the nature of this conflict. Russia is not just waging war on Ukraine. Russia seeks to remove Ukraine from the earth, from maps, from history, from culture. Russia seeks to subjugate all of Ukraine’s people as Russians.
Edited January 3, 2025
A war of genocide – v2
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2025/01/a-war-of-genocide-v2.html
Edited/ new name January 2, 2025
A war of genocide
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2025/01/a-war-of-genocide.html
Edited December 2, 2024
Stealing History – v2
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/12/stealing-history-v2.html
November 30, 2024
Sacred Days
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/11/sacred-days.html
Edited September 6, 2024
Flying from every flagpole – v2
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/09/flying-from-every-flagpole-v2.html
September 6, 2024
Trampled, beaten, yet unbowed
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/09/trampled-beaten-yet-unbowed.html
August 27, 2024
The Flag of their Independence
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/08/the-flag-of-their-independence.html
Ukraine National Flag Day – August 23, 2024
Edited August 1, 2024
Resolve personified – v3
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/08/resolve-personified-v3.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, God, prayer, war, tragedy, terror, genocide, Russia, peace, Kharkiv, Kyiv, Lviv, Day of Remembrance, Ilovaisk, Poltava, Independence Day, Holodomor, Defenders Day, National Anthem,

#poetry #Ukraine #God #prayer #war #tragedy #terror #genocide #Russia #peace #Poltava #Kharkiv #Kyiv #Lviv #DayofRemembrance #Ilovaisk #FlagDay #remembranceday #Holodomor #Tatar #BabiYar #DefendersDay #IndependenceDay #NationalAnthem

Stealing #History – v4 #poetry #Ukraine #God #prayer #war #tragedy #terror #genocide #Russia #peace #Poltava #Kharkiv #Kyiv #Lviv #DayofRemembrance #Ilovaisk #FlagDay #remembranceday #Holodomor #Tatar #BabiYar #DefendersDay #IndependenceDay #NationalAnthem #HeavenlyHundred

Systematic erasure, propaganda,
stealing history, denying existence,
appropriating that which isn’t theirs,...
usurpers in their midst, oppressors,
trying to control, to steal, to diminish,
that which makes them unique…
 
Fighting an aggressor, a false master,
a bully, an empire, a capital rising,
built on terror, the backs of the fallen,
a narrative, a lie of conquest, propaganda,
their origin story another’s history,
These good and noble people living,
in power before they came to exist…
 
Centuries of repression, torment, struggle,
pushing the people into slavery, serfdom,
a bloodlust for conquest, for empire,...
harsh masters, subordination, defiance,
not seeing them as their brothers,
not seeing their holy right to exist…
 
Taking what wasn’t, what isn’t theirs,
stealing history, destroying culture,
Today, again, creating scorched earth,...
But these people are rising resolute, resilient,
speaking with power, “never again” …
This time, we will fight for independence,
this time we will fight and win…
 
-----------
June 25, 2026
Stealing History – v4
 
November 30, 2024
Sacred Days
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/11/sacred-days.html
Edited September 6, 2024
Flying from every flagpole – v2
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/09/flying-from-every-flagpole-v2.html
September 6, 2024
Trampled, beaten, yet unbowed
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/09/trampled-beaten-yet-unbowed.html
August 27, 2024
The Flag of their Independence
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/08/the-flag-of-their-independence.html
National Day of Remembrance – August 29, 2024
Ukraine Independence Day – August 24, 2024
Ukraine National Flag Day – August 23, 2024
Edited August 30, 2024
The dead do not yet rest in peace – v2
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/08/the-dead-do-not-yet-rest-in-peace-v2.html
Edited August 28, 2024
The whisper of the dead – v2
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/08/the-whisper-of-dead-v2.html
July 16, 2024
The Sound of Lviv Cemetery
https://x.com/United24media/status/1813323219954241935
X (formerly Twitter) post by United24 Media
edited August 27, 2024
The stain of innocent blood – v4
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/08/the-stain-of-innocent-blood-v4.html 
Edited/new name August 27, 2024
Streets of their cities run red with blood
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/08/streets-of-their-cities-run-red-with.html
Edited August 1, 2024
Resolve personified – v3
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/08/resolve-personified-v3.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, 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, God, prayer, war, tragedy, terror, genocide, Russia, peace, Kharkiv, Kyiv, Lviv, Day of Remembrance, Ilovaisk, Poltava, Independence Day, Holodomor, Defenders Day, National Anthem,
 
#poetry #Ukraine #God #prayer #war #tragedy #terror #genocide #Russia #peace #Poltava #Kharkiv #Kyiv #Lviv #DayofRemembrance #Ilovaisk #FlagDay #remembranceday #Holodomor #Tatar #BabiYar #DefendersDay #IndependenceDay #NationalAnthem #HeavenlyHundred

Three centuries, not Four years #poetry #Ukraine #God #prayer #war #tragedy #terror #genocide #Russia #peace #Poltava #Kharkiv #Kyiv #Lviv #DayofRemembrance #Ilovaisk #FlagDay #remembranceday #Holodomor #Tatar #BabiYar #DefendersDay #IndependenceDay #NationalAnthem #HeavenlyHundred

The world is blind, myopic,
believing their propaganda
the lie of their origin story
how they came to exist...
 
The battle is ancient,
for survival, for dignity,
three centuries, not four years,
trying to erase Ukraine...
 
The lie at the beginning
usurping history, truth,
the Tsars seeking empire
until they are crushed...
 
Now the people rise up
united in one purpose
standing against terror,
Russia’s genocide...
 
They will prevail,
momentum has shifted,
centuries of struggle
are now bearing fruit...
 
Ukraine will be whole
united as one people,
Russia will be defeated
their lie exposed...
 
-----------
February 20, 2026
Three centuries, not Four years
 
The genocide in Ukraine started with the Tsar’s decree
in 1721, renaming Muscovy to Russia, stealing the
legacy of Kyivan Rus...
edited/ new name February 19, 2026
Four years of terror, genocide
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2026/02/four-years-of-terror-genocide.html
Edited/change name February 18, 2026
Momentum Shifting
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2026/02/momentum-shifting.html
Edited December 1, 2025
Stealing History – v3
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2025/12/stealing-history-v3.html
November 30, 2024
Sacred Days
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/11/sacred-days.html
Edited September 6, 2024
Flying from every flagpole – v2
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/09/flying-from-every-flagpole-v2.html
September 6, 2024
Trampled, beaten, yet unbowed
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/09/trampled-beaten-yet-unbowed.html
August 27, 2024
The Flag of their Independence
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/08/the-flag-of-their-independence.html
National Day of Remembrance – August 29, 2024
Ukraine Independence Day – August 24, 2024
Ukraine National Flag Day – August 23, 2024
Edited August 30, 2024
The dead do not yet rest in peace – v2
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/08/the-dead-do-not-yet-rest-in-peace-v2.html
Edited August 28, 2024
The whisper of the dead – v2
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/08/the-whisper-of-dead-v2.html
edited August 27, 2024
The stain of innocent blood – v4
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/08/the-stain-of-innocent-blood-v4.html 
Edited/new name August 27, 2024
Streets of their cities run red with blood
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/08/streets-of-their-cities-run-red-with.html
Edited August 1, 2024
Resolve personified – v3
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/08/resolve-personified-v3.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, God, prayer, war, tragedy, terror, genocide, Russia, peace, Kharkiv, Kyiv, Lviv, Day of Remembrance, Ilovaisk, Poltava, Independence Day, Holodomor, Defenders Day, National Anthem, Heavenly Hundred,
 
#poetry #Ukraine #God #prayer #war #tragedy #terror #genocide #Russia #peace #Poltava #Kharkiv #Kyiv #Lviv #DayofRemembrance #Ilovaisk #FlagDay #remembranceday #Holodomor #Tatar #BabiYar #DefendersDay #IndependenceDay #NationalAnthem #HeavenlyHundred

A war of genocide – v3 #poetry #Ukraine #God #prayer #war #tragedy #terror #genocide #Russia #peace #Poltava #Kharkiv #Kyiv #Lviv #DayofRemembrance #Ilovaisk #FlagDay #remembranceday #Holodomor #Tatar #BabiYar #DefendersDay #IndependenceDay #NationalAnthem

Eleven years, acts of terror, erasure,
a hybrid war of evil, of genocide,
seeking to destroy their culture…
An existential threat, survival,
bombing icons, treasures, history,
seeking to destroy printing, literature,
even denying the names of their cities,
denying their right to even exist…
 
Purposeful evil, terror, war crimes,
systematic erasure, propaganda,
stealing history, denying existence,
appropriating that which isn’t theirs…
Claiming their rights, their power,
usurpers in their midst, oppressors,
trying to control, to steal, to diminish,
that which makes them unique…
 
Fighting an aggressor, a false master,
a bully, an empire, a capital rising,
built on terror, the backs of the fallen,
their falsehoods, their fabrications,
a narrative, a lie of conquest, propaganda,
their origin story another’s history…
These good and noble people living,
in power before they came to exist…
 
An amalgam of nations, of subjugation,
centuries of repression, torment, struggle,
pushing nations into slavery, serfdom…
A bloodlust for conquest, for empire,
harsh masters, subordination, defiance,
only seeking dominion, erasure,
not seeing them as their brothers,
not seeing their holy right to exist…
 
Taking what wasn’t, what isn’t theirs,
stealing history, destroying culture,
a bloody war of attrition, of genocide,
Today again creating scorched earth;
But these People are rising resolute, resilient,
speaking with power, “Never Again!” …
This time, We will fight for independence…
This time, We will fight and win…
 
-----------
Edited December 1, 2025
A war of genocide – v3
 
This poem is about the nature of this conflict. Russia is not just waging war on Ukraine. Russia seeks to remove Ukraine from the earth, from maps, from history, from culture. Russia seeks to subjugate all of Ukraine’s people as Russians.
Edited January 3, 2025
A war of genocide – v2
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2025/01/a-war-of-genocide-v2.html
Edited/ new name January 2, 2025
A war of genocide
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2025/01/a-war-of-genocide.html
Edited December 2, 2024
Stealing History – v2
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/12/stealing-history-v2.html
November 30, 2024
Sacred Days
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/11/sacred-days.html
Edited September 6, 2024
Flying from every flagpole – v2
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/09/flying-from-every-flagpole-v2.html
September 6, 2024
Trampled, beaten, yet unbowed
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/09/trampled-beaten-yet-unbowed.html
August 27, 2024
The Flag of their Independence
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/08/the-flag-of-their-independence.html
Ukraine National Flag Day – August 23, 2024
Edited August 1, 2024
Resolve personified – v3
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/08/resolve-personified-v3.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, and 2025. 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, God, prayer, war, tragedy, terror, genocide, Russia, peace, Kharkiv, Kyiv, Lviv, Day of Remembrance, Ilovaisk, Poltava, Independence Day, Holodomor, Defenders Day, National Anthem,
 
#poetry #Ukraine #God #prayer #war #tragedy #terror #genocide #Russia #peace #Poltava #Kharkiv #Kyiv #Lviv #DayofRemembrance #Ilovaisk #FlagDay #remembranceday #Holodomor #Tatar #BabiYar #DefendersDay #IndependenceDay #NationalAnthem