Tuesday, April 12, 2022

Bolshoy Medved



painting of "The Hope" by Vika Muse.

Bolshoy Medved


“When the Bear begins to dance, it is not you who

decides when the dance is over--it’s the bear.”

--Russian Proverb.


The Russian Bear

is a bastard behemoth;

smaller now than before

the fall of the wall,

but still gargantuan,

            monstrous,

            bestial,

            feral and

            blood-thirsty.


When aroused

it will devour

men, women, and children;

an equal opportunity

slayer.


Normally

it wears a huge cruel spiked collar,

and is held fast by

a thousand ship’s anchor chains;

like King Kong,

too dangerous to tame.


Putin has loosed it

on the whole of Ukraine,

where it’s vicious love affair 

with slaughter seems

never-ending.


The brave population of Ukraine,

though dying by the thousands,

continue to battle the bruin,

as America watches from afar.


The incredible spirit

of the Ukrainian people

rides a horse of light,

and carries a shining lance

that can slay dragons and bear,

and we do see the great bear

bleeding and limping, retreating

and licking its wounds.


We marvel at the visceral bravery

of the Ukrainians, and marvel further

at the flocks of white doves,

that fly into dangerous skies

making a protective murmuration,

offering peace in the iron sky

full of Russian missiles.


It is a fact that it is

hard to target one bird

amongst a moving flock

of millions.


It is written

that the warriors of light

will ultimately defeat

the evil forces of darkness;

meanwhile

the scorched landscape

is littered with broken wings,

                       broken dreams

and empty promises.



Glenn Buttkus


Poetics


Posted over at d'Verse Poet's Pub

13 comments:

Callsign Santa said...

This is ....exactly...what needs to be written.....written like a blacksmith strikes a sword, hard, firmly, but struck true..each hit. Your verse is real. Very, very real.

Mish said...

Wow. You gave a voice to every stroke of the brush. Exceptional. Thank you, Glenn...and for stopping into the pub to drop her a message. I will be emailing her to be sure she sees then all.

Merril D. Smith said...

The final stanza is particularly effective.

Tzvi Fievel said...

"We marvel at the visceral bravery

of the Ukrainians, and marvel further

at the flocks of white doves,

that fly into dangerous skies."

Truedessa said...

Glen, written as only you can...that final verse leaves me hoping the warriors of light will defeat this darkness...and soon....

Dwight L. Roth said...

You have described the Russian bear very well along with the strength of the Ukrainian response. Very sad indeed!

Tricia said...

I can definitely feel all the brushstrokes as Mish commented, your voice grabs the readers and tells it like it is.

paeansunplugged said...

Such a hard-hitting write, Glenn! Telling the truth as it is.

Kerfe said...

Exactly as it is Glenn. As I would expect from you.

Gillena Cox said...

WOW!!!!! Exactly the way it should be written

MUCH💜LOVE

Vika Muse said...

oh, this is so true, everything you've written. Very brave poem with striking true. Impressed by your open manner. Thank you for this poem!💛💙

brudberg said...

This was my first thought of the poem, with the shadow of the bear, but I opeted for more home, a hope I don't really have.

Christopher Reilley said...

Dude a very powerful poem, emotion in every line. I really, really liked this.