Withered Sunflowers
written by: Adrian David
In a land where golden sunflowers
blossomed and prospered
underneath the clear blue sky,
now all that blooms is shrapnel.
Cities, once elegant and thriving,
painfully witness dropping bombs,
burning homes, collapsing rubble,
and troubled citizens fleeing for their lives.
Patriotic sons take up their arms,
kiss their mothers goodbye,
and join their brothers in the battlefield,
only to return wrapped in yellow and blue.
In a land where the Dnipro
flowed blue and calm,
blood and tears overflow,
ruining its tranquillity.
Brave and beautiful women
trade their vyshyvanky and vinky
for military fatigues and guns
in defence of their nation.
Children, at the tender age
of playing hide and seek,
run and hide away from strife,
trembling with fear.
In a land where the timeless melody
of kolyadky filled every ear,
the shriek of sirens resounds,
sending everyone into a frenzy.
The nightingale’s sweet songs
of joy and hope,
that herald the arrival of spring,
turn into cries of despair.
People, who feasted upon
delicious varenyky and borshch,
share pieces of stale bread
in congested bomb shelters.
In a land rich with heritage
and myriad stories to tell,
war has become the only story
told or remembered.
Ukraine’s sons and daughters,
who once held their heads high,
barely survive amid the conflict,
reduced to refugees in their own country.
The sunflowers, which swayed
and danced in the gentle wind,
now lie withered and dead
under a grey, lifeless sky.
* vyshyvanky – embroidered Ukrainian shirts
* vinky – traditional Ukrainian wreaths
* kolyadky – Christmas carols
* varenyky – filled dumplings
* borshch – beetroot soup
- Withered Sunflowers - March 22, 2022
- The Dreadful Shower - September 8, 2021
- My Suicide Note - June 23, 2021
