Cloud of war

This poem tries to convey the sense of impending war – both the immediate on the ground issues in the Ukraine right now and also how I am feeling watching it from far away. I can remember the fear of nuclear war that I experienced growing up during the Cold War and this conflict has resurrected that feeling. I hope that this cloud of war can be blown away and that the sun and peace will shine soon for the Ukrainian people.

Cloud of war

Rising from the east

    the rockets

       the army

            moves

tanks, guns, grenades

    bombing increases

and we watch

    the snippets of destruction

        on TV

from our living rooms

    yet we also

         sit

under that

   cloud of war

the children of the cold war

    growing up with nuclear fears

       the day after

the harrowing tales

        of nuclear destruction

hovering over us

   remembering the day

Chernobyl melted

  the drops of fog

    could contain

the deadly radiation

    cousin to

     the Bomb

and now

   a nuclear power

flexes their muscles

    issues their threats

 invades a free country

   a struggling

 burgeoning democracy

craving the freedom

   the peace

that Russia would deny

a maniacal

    delusional leader

stomping his little feet

    looking out from his beady eyes

seeing the world

   the way he wants to

    ignoring

the cries of children

  dead bodies of civilians

and we all sit

   the fear palpable

the cloud of war

   hovers over the world

awaiting

   with baited breath

for the next day

    the next weeks

 to watch

   to fight

the Ukranians

   stand tall

we applaud

   from a distance

knowing that we are all

  under this cloud of war

but for some

    for us

it’s just there

   away on the edge of the horizon

and for others

   the lightening

       the deafening thunder

the bombs fall

    as fears

      as death

grips its people

  a cavernous possibility

    the world

       under

a cloud of war.