This photo is not 1942. This photo is taken this week in Ukraine March 2022 with the colour taken out.
Thank you to a brave war journalist who I will research to find the name.
Ukraine
“ . . man learns nothing from history” Hegel
“I think it better that at times like these
we poets keep our mouths shut
for in truth
we have no gift to set a statesman right “
W.B. Yeats
from (‘On being asked for a war poem’ 1919)
can’t help being pessimistic but
but. . .I cannot be silent
in this sorrow of war
the enemy has risen its monstrous head again
where human decency gives way
to rage that leads to war that leads to rage
. . . and this too will end
leaders will make deals shake hands
some will put aside vicious propaganda
and become allies
once again trenches filled in
old war tanks disassembled
in time they will build a cenotaph
engrave the names of heroes
not the women old men children
displaced and broken
not victims who paid the price
as the English FTSE and Russian MOEX
surge with share holder profits
and each trumpets themselves
winner
no-one gains land
for there is nothing to gain
it’s all an illusion that sabotages despots
yet there is a lot to lose
mostly humane values sadness in a mother’s eyes
fear in a child’s heart
hate and revenge replacing a teenager’s dreams
the loss of human decency in the soldier.
meanwhile the sun anchors
this tiny dot in the ocean of sky
and its lens blinks
another ‘lest we forget’