February 26, 2022

L’horreur…

For What
For the world, standby,
as Ukraine stands alone.
For the boy, bullets,
for his toy gun one act play.
For the girl, rape.
For her guinea pig, freedom.
For the parents, cocktail time.
Molotovs.


 
March 3, 2022 

Kyiv Train Station Interview, on the Rachel Maddow Show

From a cracked window 
in a packed unsmoldering train

ready to roll towards Poland
an undead girl 

with an unsevered head cries, 
“Cherish the blue skies!”

and waves her attached hand
at the unbroken camera.

 
March 4, 2022

President Zelensky is the voice of Paddington the Bear
in the Ukrainian version of the film “Paddington.” Of course, he is.
Yesterday, he gave a long news conference somewhere, somehow, and inspired this poem. 

Volodymyr the Bear
When I see your war-whiskers filling in
day by day, I cannot help but picture you
entirely covered in your wild fur, hunted
under Ukraine’s cold rainy snow.
Before reporters, you remain polite, tame,
and answer impossible questions, despite
the draining reign of terror inching its red
way across the map – red, like your hat.
I wish I could pat your pelt, as you stand
there like a good little Paddington, in your
blue slicker with sunflower yellow toggles,
and show you the way back home.

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Some people grow up playing checkers, or the cello, Elizabeth Boquet grew up playing poetry with her mother and never stopped. On her website, you’ll find some of her award-winning poetry, as well as over thirty pieces that have been published in various literary journals and anthologies. Born and raised in New Hampshire, and after years in France and China, these days, she lives with her husband, a watchmaker, between Lausanne, Switzerland, and Pézenas, France.  www.elizabethboquet.com