Ukraine, Breaking. By Dr. Laura Vanderberg. Written the day of the initial invasion, in response to my friends and colleagues and their shared stories of trauma, before we knew it would become an ongoing assault on the land and people of Ukraine.

UKRAINE, BREAKING

Poem text: Ukraine, Breaking What does it sound like when a heart breaks? It sounds like the shivering of your window panes as planes pass over. It sounds like the deep, reverberating thud of bombs striking the frozen soil. Like the muffled questions of why, how, and when. The tape stretching across your windows to black out the glow of your existence. The stifled weeping of mothers deep in the dark while they listen to their babies’ breath. The eerie silence of sunrise after a sleepless night of devastation. The sliding of palms across coat sleeves as families tear themselves apart. The hollow of a communique gone unanswered. The sinking of the deadbolt into your doorframe and the echo of wonder if you will ever return home. Thousands of footsteps tapping rhythmically into the tunnels of the Metro. The pause and stuttering as you look into another’s eyes and stumble over your words to say, “When evil rains, Horror blooms, and I still love you even while my heart is breaking.” ~Laura E. Vanderberg
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Dr. Laura Vanderberg

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