by Claire Kroening
Ukraine lies in restless despair
In places where the ground doesn’t tremble, doesn’t quake;
Where the missiles have since exploded
Killing innocent lives, for what victory?
Their eyes blaze toward peace
With fear beyond borders.
Were there any warnings?
How many bombs does it take to secure the war?
Corpses of cars and apartments slumber
As the morning sun takes its rise.
Funeral stands left unattended
To those in Izium, buried under tortured sand,
Nameless.
Loved ones submerged in the rubble.
Why isn’t the rest of the world taking action?
Why are the headlines being ignored?
Their people are hurting;
Forced out of homes by another waking bombing,
Longing with their soldiers, mourning.
Hopping for a brighter horizon, normalcy,
Where fire doesn’t burn away the sky.
How did surviving in the abandoned
Become the mere way to take cover?
Where the missiles have since exploded,
In places where the ground doesn’t tremble, doesn’t quake;
Ukraine lies in restless despair.
Claire Kroening is a student from Mosinee, Wisconsin.