An Instant Poem

Straight from the brain, no edits

In What Ways are the Living Dead

I woke with — Remember The Radishes — on my tongue like it was some sort of chant or witch-like ward, but even repeating it in the mirror, there was only myself as a creature of storm — and a feeling of the way watermelons would burst in the bombing of Krasnodar.

At the intersection of Krasnaya Street and Mira Street in downtown Krasnodar, Russia | Photo by Ivan Konev on Unsplash

Note: I lived in Krasnodar in late 2001. I think the current war is senseless. I’m not on Putin’s side, but every time a place where I lived, a place where I loved, is bombed in Russia, I feel broken for the good, decent people who have no interest in the war either. Same goes for Ukraine.