An Evening in Kyiv
written & performed by: Gerry Stefanson
last night, I viewed an old woman and soldier
under the streetlight, she reached out a packet to him.
last night, he placed it in his pocket and smiled
her lips pursed tight she spoke these words.
this pouch contains sunflower seeds, our national flower
from my garden, once my mother’s garden, once her mother’s garden.
this pouch I sewed from my grandfather’s WW1 shirt.
I gift it to you, so when you die in our country, far from home
and your corpse falls forgotten to the ground,
these sunflower seeds will bloom,
and my great, great-grandchildren may spy them in time.
will think of me and my many gifts to foreign soldiers like you
and remember the terrible price we all pay.
Last night, I saw her approach many soldiers.
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