The #whisper of the #dead – v4 #poetry #Ukraine #God #prayer #war #tragedy #terror #genocide #Russia #peace #Dnipro #Kharkiv #Odesa #Zaporizhia #Kyiv #Lviv

The whisper of the dead,
snap of the flags in breezes,
their breath across the way, the path,...
Each cemetery is not silent…
 
The cries of the dead, their groans,
cry out for aid, for justice,
for help for their people,
for this madness to end…
 
The whisper of their dead
breathes life into movement
snap of the flags, praying,
crying out for aid, for justice…
 
May their cries be answered,
More aid must be given, fully…
May justice come quickly…
A just peace must rise…
 
----------
Edited June 25, 2026
The whisper of the dead – v4
 
July 16, 2024
The Sound of Lviv Cemetery
https://x.com/United24media/status/1813323219954241935
X (formerly Twitter) post by United24 Media
Edited July 18, 2024
The whisper of the dead
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/07/the-whisper-of-dead.html
Edited July 17, 2024
The cries of the dead – v2
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/07/the-cries-of-dead_17.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, Dnipro, Kharkiv, Odesa, Okhmatdyt children’s hospital, Kyiv, Lviv,
 
#poetry #Ukraine #God #prayer #war #tragedy #terror #genocide #Russia #peace #Dnipro #Kharkiv #Odesa #Zaporizhia #Kyiv #Lviv

“How can people be so cruel to each other?” – v7 #poetry #Ukraine #God #prayer #war #tragedy #terror #genocide #Russia #valor #martyrs #heroes #peace #humanity #love #innocentblood #cruelty #anger #hate #warcrimes #crimesagainsthumanity #UnitedNations #YuriiHulchuk #WeStandWithUkraine

He became mute, traumatized, and terrorized,
tortured, bloodied, and beaten…
unable to speak, become a specter, a shell,
hiding deep within, protecting who he is…
But there has been a warming in his spirit,
reborn, beginning to speak, to struggle, to ask…
Asking THE important questions, truly,
the essential question, the challenge, to this world,
to leaders, for all mankind, the question to humanity…
 
“How can people be so cruel to each other?” he cries,
A freed prisoner begs us, “Why so much pain?”
He begs, “Why are there so many lies?”
in this moment of chaos, of hate, of war,
encircling this world, stalking the globe…
How could this happen, again, again,
aggression, conquest, torture, genocide,
When the world pledged, “Never Again!”,
after the Holocaust, 80 years ago…
 
This essential question, a struggle for our time,
for meaning, reconciliation, for peace to ascend,
out of the ashes of war, terror, genocide,
encircling this planet, too many to count,
martyrs and enemies, so much innocent blood…
Children in the crosshairs, old lives cut down,
lives lost to tragedy, a reign of terror falling,
“How can people be so cruel to each other?” …
How can we change that somehow?...
 
What is the path forward, out of these dark times?
How can we tear down the walls between us,
a different path, a more just future, for all of us…
Where have we gone so wrong, humanity we have lost,
the pain, the trauma, a legacy heavy upon us…
So many lives are cut down, lives frozen in time,
distracted from our paths, our hopes, our dreams…
The lament of this son who pleads with us,
to find a way out of madness, to live in peace…
 
----------------  
Edited June 25, 2026
“How can people be so cruel to each other?” – v7
 
September 26, 2024
How can people be so cruel to each other
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/09/how-can-people-be-so-cruel-to-each-other.html
September 26, 2024
Twitter post by Anton Gerashchenko
https://x.com/Gerashchenko_en/status/1839272173401211031
“"Why so much pain? Why so many lies? Why are people so cruel to each other?" - the first words of 22-year-old marine Yurii Hulchuk, who lost his speech and the ability to experience emotions due to torture in Russian captivity.
His mother was told by Warriors who had returned from captivity earlier that her son stopped speaking back in June of 2022. Yurii returned to Ukraine on September 14, 2024. His condition shocked everyone who saw him. But despite the doctors' disappointing prognosis, Yurii started to speak.”
September 26, 2024
Twitter post by Anton Gerashchenko
https://x.com/Gerashchenko_en/status/1839264945206120804
September 26, 2024
Twitter post by Olexander Scherba
https://x.com/olex_scherba/status/1839234252744913297
“Ukrainian PoW who lost his ability to speak - he started talking!”
https://x.com/i/status/1839234252744913297  
 
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, humanity, love, innocent blood, cruelty, anger, hate, war crimes, crimes against humanity, United Nations, Yurii Hulchuk,
 
#poetry #Ukraine #God #prayer #war #tragedy #terror #genocide #Russia #valor #martyrs #heroes #peace #humanity #love #innocentblood #cruelty #anger #hate #warcrimes #crimesagainsthumanity #UnitedNations #YuriiHulchuk #WeStandWithUkraine

The dead cry out – v4 #poetry #God #prayer #war #tragedy #Russia #terror #genocide #Ukraine #peace #victory

Anguished words, each of them raises...
their nation crying out, whispering,
shouting, for freedom, for justice…
The dead cry out, through them,
Untie their hands, allow them,
Give them permission, authority to crush evil,
to defend themselves, their native land…
 
Nothing more than what we would do, have done,
If our land were attacked, if we faced such terror…
The dead cry out, for us to hear them, to listen,
to let their people strike back against genocide,
the sources of terror, to rise in defiance, to say, “No”,
to imperial conquest, evil raining down upon them…
They stand in the breach for our own sake…
 
The dead cry out, “untie our hands”, let us be free…
Let our people rise from the nightmare of terror…
Let us bring freedom to the center of Europe…
Help us to defend ourselves, to feed the nations,
to bring our children home from captivity…
Hasten our victory, our triumph over evil,
that a just peace may rise, for all humanity…
 
----------  
Edited June 25, 2026
The dead cry out – v4
 
August 3, 2024
The dead cry out
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/08/the-dead-cry-out.html
July 20, 2024
Resolve personified
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/07/resolve-personified.html
Edited July 20, 2024
A just peace must rise – v3
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/07/a-just-peace-must-rise-v3.html
June 29, 2024
X post by Dmytro Kuleba, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine
https://x.com/DmytroKuleba/status/1806999435559289050
at @DubrovnikForum in Croatia
Edited June 29, 2024
Listen to the cries of these people – v2
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/06/listen-to-cries-of-these-people-v2.html
Edited June 28, 2024
May the carnage end – v2
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/06/may-carnage-end-v2.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, victory,
 
#poetry #God #prayer #war #tragedy #Russia #terror #genocide #Ukraine #peace #victory

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

#Resolve personified – v7 #poetry #God #prayer #war #terror #genocide #Ukraine #peace #victory #StandWithUkraine #TarasShevchenko

Resolve personified,
in the faces of these people,
fearless, not letting their enemy win,
not ceding ground to the terror, to evil,
holding fast in the storms, the chaos,
so that genocide will not prevail…
 
Too long have they suffered,
too many lost in the maelstrom,
the storm of chaos, of evil, power,
But resolve, resolute in their struggle,
In choosing to take up arms,
to defend their sovereign nation…
 
Resolve personified,
a choice each morning,
in every moment, each decision,
for this nation, for these people,
to protect, to defend their homeland,
to say no to evil, to the invaders, the Moskals…
 
Meeting the enemy in battle,
slowly pushing back evil,
too long a delay in assistance, ...
Yet the tide is turning slowly,
skies are more protected, defenses,
for victory, a just peace must rise…
 
Resolve personified,
In the posture of every person,
every son and every daughter,
All these courageous people
who stand against the enemy,
who say no to Russia’s evil intent…
 
----------
Edited June 24, 2026
Resolve personified – v7
 
July 20, 2024
Resolve personified
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/07/resolve-personified.html
Edited July 20, 2024
A just peace must rise – v3
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/07/a-just-peace-must-rise-v3.html
June 29, 2024
X post by Dmytro Kuleba, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine
https://x.com/DmytroKuleba/status/1806999435559289050
at @DubrovnikForum in Croatia
Edited June 29, 2024
Listen to the cries of these people – v2
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/06/listen-to-cries-of-these-people-v2.html
Edited June 28, 2024
May the carnage end – v2
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/06/may-carnage-end-v2.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, victory, Taras Shevchenko,
 
#poetry #God #prayer #war #terror #genocide #Ukraine #peace #victory #StandWithUkraine #TarasShevchenko

Their best #sons and #daughters – v5 #poetry #Ukraine #God #prayer #war #terror #genocide #peace #StandWithUkraine #valor #martyrs #heroes #sacrifice #GlorytotheHeroes #SlavaUkraini #IrynaTsybukh #Cheka #Kydrava

Each of them has sacrificed so much already, daily,
so that we can live in peace, in freedom…
We are not on the frontlines, in the trenches,
standing against the terror, the aggressors,
the imperialist nation state, the madman…
 
How great are their nation’s losses,
after twelve years of terror, of destruction,
of genocide, of blood in the streets…
Endless attacks by their enemy,
killing everything in their path…
 
Their best sons and daughters,
of these people, this nation, lost,
taken by the slaughter, the carnage…
Anguished cries in shelters, under arms,
constant missile sirens, terror unleashed…
 
Time stands still, frozen, lives being ripped
from their own paths, their freedom,
taking up arms against their enemy…
Resolute in their shared struggle, united,
protecting this land that they love… 
 
Their best sons and daughters,
witnesses now to the horrors of chaos…
Standing in defiance against terror,
the complacency of others, too timid,
to stand in the gap for all of them…
 
More than martyrs, the fallen valor,
They are heroes of freedom, their nation…
Resolute against their enemy, sacrificing
so much, their lives, for all of humanity,
standing in the gap where we will not tread…
 
Living defenders stand at attention, ... Their Dead do not yet rest,
until the enemy is defeated, until there is a just peace
in their homeland, for posterity, a reawakening…
Their flag flying over every home, the blue and yellow ablaze…
Only then will they be at peace, ... only then will they rest…
 
-----------
Edited June 19, 2026
Their best sons and daughters – v5
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2026/06/their-best-sons-and-daughters-v5.html
Repost January 17, 2026
Their best sons and daughters – v4
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2026/01/their-best-sons-and-daughters-v4.html
Edited November 24, 2025
Their best sons and daughters – v4
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2025/11/their-best-sons-and-daughters-v4.html
Edited September 21, 2024
Their best sons and daughters – v3
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/09/their-best-sons-and-daughters-v3.html
September 20, 2024
Human life unimportant…
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/09/human-life-unimportant.html
Edited August 1, 2024
Resolve personified – v3
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/08/resolve-personified-v3.html
 Edited September 19, 2024
Let Ukraine Strike the Archers – v2
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/09/let-ukraine-strike-archers-v2.html
Edited September 17, 2024
Let Ukraine Strike Back – v3
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/09/let-ukraine-strike-back-v3.html
Edited September 18, 2024
Their best sons and daughters – v2
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/09/their-best-sons-and-daughters-v2.html
September 17, 2024
Their best sons and daughters
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/09/their-best-sons-and-daughters.html
&
August 23, 2024
Facebook post by Christina Kydrava:
https://www.facebook.com/kydrava1/posts/pfbid0cJ8NH19VAM1SsZKv1ythBzY3tnrNkFBHyqPTWmyRFF2BBdKPa3SskaE5Rd76fqbFl
“Today my blue and yellow flag is stained with the blood of the best sons and daughters of the Ukrainian nation, trampled by the dirty boots of the Russian soldier, covered in mud from explosion in the trenches, carefully folded and hidden from the occupiers in Ukrainian black soil.
Today my flag is the colour of blood and soil, today my flag is the flag of the STRUGGLE and resilience of the Ukrainian people. I want a peaceful yellow and blue to fly all over every Ukrainian home, and for now, we fight, and our STRENGTH is in UNITY.”
&
April 18, 2023 Twitter post by @Ferlain
https://x.com/ferlain/status/1648256092634226688
quotes from Christina Kydrava, at the time of her 30^th birthday…
“I am not afraid of my death. I accept it. But I am afraid to lose the best sons and daughters of Ukraine. No one wants to pass this war to our descendants… I am living a postponed life now. If we don’t work as hard as it is only possible now there won’t be a second chance.”
&
Edited September 10, 2024
The Flag of their Independence – v2
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/09/the-flag-of-their-independence-v2.html
Edited September 8, 2024
Trampled, beaten, yet unbowed – v2
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/09/trampled-beaten-yet-unbowed-v2.html
Edited September 6, 2024
Flying from every flagpole – v2
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/09/flying-from-every-flagpole-v2.html
National Day of Remembrance – August 29, 2024
Ukraine Independence Day – August 24, 2024
Ukraine National Flag Day – August 23, 2024
&
Edited September 10, 2024
Freezing in the Darkness – v2
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/09/freezing-in-darkness-long-brutal-winter.html
Edited September 10, 2024
Streets of their cities run red with blood – v2
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/09/streets-of-their-cities-run-red-with.html
September 10, 2024
Let Ukraine Strike Back
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/09/let-ukraine-strike-back.html
September 10, 2024
The stain of innocent blood – v5
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/09/the-stain-of-innocent-blood-v5.html
Edited September 10, 2024
A just peace must rise – v4
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/09/a-just-peace-must-rise-v4.html
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 27, 2024
The stain of innocent blood – v4
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/08/the-stain-of-innocent-blood-v4.html 
Edited August 27, 2024
Streets of Kharkiv run red with blood – v2
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/08/streets-of-kharkiv-run-red-with-blood-v2.html
Edited September 1, 2024
Too close to the border – v3
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/09/too-close-to-border-v3.html
Edited August 19, 2024
The dead cry out – v2
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/08/the-dead-cry-out-v2.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, Let Ukraine Strike Back,
 
#poetry #Ukraine #God #prayer #war #tragedy #terror #genocide #Russia #peace #Poltava #Kharkiv #Kyiv #Lviv #DayofRemembrance #Ilovaisk
 
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Repost - Their best sons and daughters – v4 #poetry #Ukraine #God #prayer #war #terror #genocide #peace #StandWithUkraine #valor #martyrs #heroes #sacrifice #GlorytotheHeroes #SlavaUkraini #IrynaTsybukh #Cheka

Each of them has sacrificed so much already, daily,

so that we can live in peace, in freedom…

We are not on the frontlines, in the trenches,

standing against the terror, the aggressors,

the imperialist nation state, the madman…

 

How great are their nation’s losses,

after a decade of terror, of destruction,

of genocide, of blood in the streets…

Endless attacks by their enemy,

killing everything in their path…

 

Their best sons and daughters,

of these people, this nation, lost,

taken by the slaughter, the carnage…

Anguished cries in shelters, under arms,

constant missile sirens, terror unleashed…

 

Time stands still, frozen, lives being ripped

from their own paths, their freedom,

taking up arms against their enemy…

Resolute in their shared struggle,

protecting this land that they love… 

 

Their best sons and daughters,

witnesses now to the horrors of chaos…

Standing in defiance against terror,

the complacency of others, too timid,

to stand in the gap for all of them…

 

More than martyrs, the fallen valor,

They are heroes of freedom, their nation…

Resolute against their enemy, sacrificing

so much, their lives, for all of humanity,

standing in the gap where we will not tread…

 

Living defenders stand at attention, the dead do not yet rest,

until the enemy is defeated, until there is a just peace

in their homeland, for posterity, a reawakening…

Their flag flying over every home, the blue and yellow ablaze…

Only then will they be at peace, only then will they rest…

Edited November 24, 2025

Their best sons and daughters – v4

https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2025/11/their-best-sons-and-daughters-v4.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. All of my poems are 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, Let Ukraine Strike Back,

#poetry #Ukraine #God #prayer #war #tragedy #terror #genocide #Russia #peace #Poltava #Kharkiv #Kyiv #Lviv #DayofRemembrance #Ilovaisk 

#poetry #Ukraine #God #prayer #war #terror #genocide #peace #StandWithUkraine #valor #martyrs #heroes #sacrifice #GlorytotheHeroes #SlavaUkraini #IrynaTsybukh #Cheka