Standing Frozen Between Inaction and Chaos

Janelle Curlin-Taylor

March 14, 2022

This is how I feel about Ukraine

Shut down between Putin's vicious rage and

His willful determination to rewrite history

To benefit his maniacal drive to power

All history is complex

History of the oppressed most of all

So many failed attempts to find allies

In 1917 would the Communists help

In the 1940s would the Germans help

Baba Yar – the mass slaying of Ukrainian Jews

The Nazi's Ukraine Holocaust

Stalin's slow, tortuous, grueling gulag

Chernobyl built on a site nearby

Not Communists

Not Nazis

Not nuclear power

In the illusive search for freedom

Bigger is not always better

Today, over $1 million has been raised

For Ukrainian people on Airbnb

Miracle of resistance via Internet

"Use this for someone who needs a room"

Empire vs Beloved Community

This is Lent

How could I forget

Where I stand

Janelle CurlinTaylor’s poetry has appeared in the di-verse-City Anthology, Blue Hole, Best Austin Poetry 2018-2019, Waco Wordfest Anthology 2020 and 2021, Texas Poetry Calendar 2020, Tejascovido, Texas Poetry Assignment. She is married to California poet Jeffrey Taylor.