Yulia’s Picture .. .

the bracken swallows the land
green and gargoyled
it destroys good black sod
full of minerals and of meaning
where the wheat corn might sway
it travels at an alarming rate
soil as dark and crumbled
as my children’s powder paint
where they hang their pictures
now that all may see
at a universal gallery
my fridge hangs on a ledge
hanging open its contents spread
I forgot to buy some milk
but now it does not matter
the picture my eldest child painted
a little torn, is of a recent trip
we spent some time away
south of Chornobyl by the lake
fridge magnets we have bought
from many different places
still cling to our refrigerator
the one we we spent a fortune on
last September before the bracken spread
I can still see them clinging, magnetic
and my sweet Yulia’s painting
in the picture on the newsreel
the one the world can see
in every other country
the march of time will never clear that fog
long after building dust
and cement may have settled
on the day we do our baking
the kids and me while Natalya is working
at the packing factory
but now my kids have been taken
a long way away
we cannot gather round for tea
to enjoy our day of baking
the vows we made lie broken
by the Russian army
their nation and its leader

©edenbraytoday17.04.2022