“When you attack us, you will see our faces. Not our backs, but our faces.”

– President Volodymyr Zelensky

Beneath
a Bougainvillea-laced trellis
I read of war and war and war
when I am startled by a sound
deep and insistent
like an omen or a warning.

But looking up
all I spy
is a hummingbird
drinking nectar.

Slowly
I unclench my fist
and give up the Molotov cocktail
I had begun to conjure there.

What a shame to read
of war and war and war.

March 1, 2022