Zeitgeist: UKRAINE BLUES II (Satis Shroff)

Zeitgeistlyrik: UKRAINE BLUES II (Satis Shroff)
8. INSPIRATION (Satis Shroff)

Zelensky is at home in the social media.
What he says goes viral:
Pics of Ukrainian soldiers,
Captured Prisoners-of War,
The manufacture of Molotov Cocktails.
A grandma doing rifle-training,
Vows made to defend the country,
Klitchko’s appeal to Europeans for help,
Soldiers with wet eyes.
Damsels in camouflage dresses.
Zelensky’s leadership, resilience,
Patriotism and inspiration
Have moved everyone who has a heart
For the underdog.
In a ten-minute speech to the Emergency Summit
Of the European leaders he said:
‘This may be the last time you see me alive.’
* * *
9. PROMISES MADE (Satis Shroff)

Kill or die,
Is the order of the day.
When rockets and missiles strike
Civilian apartments,
The war becomes dirty,
The enemy unseen.
They send the greetings of death,
From a safe distance.
Aesthetic killing
In the cities and fields of Ukraine.
And what do we have as a retort?
Molotov cocktails for the crews
Of trucks and tanks.
ваше здоровье
vashe zdorov’ye.
* * *
10. ORPHANS AND WIDOWS (Satis Shroff)

Warlord Putin’s anger
Surpassed every measure.
Vacuum and splitter bombs,
Banned by the comity of decent nations,
To match Ukraine’s patriotism and resilience.
The Tsar uses dirty weapons
Against his foes.
How many children
Have you orphaned?
How many widows
Have you made, Tzar Putin?
Do you hear the moans of the dead?
Or the chorus of the crying children,
Traumatised for life
At such an early age?.
* * *
11. WHISTLING ROCKETS (Satis Shroff)

Frost in the fields and naked trees,
It’s winter and a cold wind blows across the land,
The Land of Sunflowers.
The sun has just arisen
And the rockets come whistling down,
Upon the houses of Ukraine:
In villages, towns and cities.
Over 300 civilians killed
And 14 children.
Putin the warlord smiles
At his loyal men,
Who have put off their conscience
For a handful of rubles
And a would-be Tsar’s propaganda.
* * *
12. INVASION (Satis Shroff)

Germany’s Chancellor Scholz says:
‘President Putin has lied to me personally
On the Ukraine crisis.’
Everybody believed Putin,
Well-knowing his past,
An ex-KGB man, a narcissist,
Who’s proud of his martial arts.
A macho who never forgives anyone,
And is bitter to the last
To his foes.
He’s used to leaving corpses behind
And is carrying out ‘a special military operation’
In the Land of the Sunflower.
A monstrous invasion
By sea, air and land,
Causing thousands to flee
To neighbouring countries.
He shows no mercy
And rains rockets on cities,
Driving those who’ve remained
To cellars, the Underground
And bomb shelters.
Grandparents, mother, children,
Trapped in a dark room,
Because of the blackout,
Even during the day,
Find solace in the national hymn.
Angst, gloomy thoughts
And helplessness still linger.
* * *