My poem ‘Sing Out for Ukraine’ shortlisted

Sing Out for Ukraine shortlisted in Spellbinder (a Quarterly Literary and Art Magazine in Durham, England)

 

Sing Out for Ukraine

-for Yuri Kerpatenko, Ukrainian orchestra conductor, murdered in the occupied city of Kherson over his refusal to participate in a concert put on by Russian authorities

 

In October

the plane-tree buds

burst pale green while

along the creek the ranks

of yellow Iris stand guard

 

In Mary of the Angels

the black-clad choir sings  siren songs

to seduce the hearts of tyrants

 

Do not mistake the organ’s trembling

groan for a missile’s deadly aria

or the sopranos’ high notes

for the widows’ ululations

 

So I will light a candle

against the sun                     quietly*

while all around me war

bullies                                    loudly

 

Fathers of Ukraine

as our foes press on from every side*

hold your children closer

so that they may live

 

Who else will carry flowers and prayers

to your own well-kept gravesites

 

*(Italicised lines quoted from lyrics of music at concert Sing Out for Ukraine at St Mary’s Basilica, Geelong on October 16^th 2022.)