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# Ukraine
- URL: https://www.andyposner.org/ukraine/
- Published: 2022-02-22T01:31:47.000Z
- Updated: 2026-07-21T01:16:49.000Z
- Description: long before the stamps commemorating peace, before factories resumed churning out grenades, some made off with blueprints for conquest, taped them to the walls of their dreams
- Author: Andy
- Tags: Be The Change, poetry, Politics, #Migrated-1784090317409, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-07-15 04:39

There are so many ways to say it:

on the verge  
on the cusp  
on the precipice  
on the brink

of catastrophe, apocalypse, war.

Then war breaks out  
and we see it never stopped—not for those  
within range of artillery and propaganda—that  
long before the stamps commemorating peace,  
before factories resumed churning out grenades,  
some made off with blueprints for reconquest,  
taped them to the walls of their dreams  
and nightly filled those dream-rooms  
with gold.

When such people come to power  
we act surprised that they do  
exactly what they said they’d do.

And like a wildfire sunset,  
if you don’t think too hard about it,  
our condemnation, swallowed  
by clouds of white phosphorous,  
is rather beautiful.

*On February 21, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin* [*invaded Ukraine*](https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/02/21/world/ukraine-russia-putin-biden?ref=andyposner.org) *while the "free world" loudly condemned his instigation of war—and did little else to stop a madman*