so much more than this house will bear
lights flicker and we lose
our connection to the world
Power out daylight in Ukraine and the rain is not rain
it’s a shelling that takes
a row of houses, a public library
Musicians circle a crater left by a bomb to play
the music of resistance
yes, there will be singing
In Russia defiant voices sing out
Ukraine’s Anthem
as peace activists are dragged away
& young people circle riot police like schools of fish resisting
How to sing out to disappearing trees
the uprising of flames, the temper of ocean,
Hemlock in the glen holding the banks of a rising stream
Not rain, this weather, the fully articulate
anger of men who crave
The map is hexed with strategies
A vortex pulls us in
power out spirits enter our house
oak walnut the bones of this house
rock back and forth, keening
this candlelight, a circle of prayer
the frequency of blood pulsing
this warm body so loud it startles
and I am thinking how
short the history
of electric, bridges and lights
and cars and power, medicine and poverty
our humming electric fridge
How loud, the war
It is late, we walk outdoors
where a few neighbors
gather to watch the disappearing light
& the clouds illuminate
the distance of stars, and moon
like a ring or a boat rises
this quiet I wish for you, Ukraine