I will remember 2022

I will remember the year.Ukraine survivedRasputin's curse.Moscow central:tanks, troops, terrorinto houses, homes, hospitalsinto schools, shops, shipsamputating the landobeying the commandof Grendel's cabal.I will never forget my ignorance -how my faithled me to trustMother Russia, Gorbachov's legacy,seduction by MacDonalds,and the gas.Shame on me,mea culpa.I failed to believe the intelligence,predictions, forecasts, warnings.I was too smart for my own good.I didn't remember Crimea.I have nothing to be proud of,I slept through 2014.What good was that war?The Crimean War,"The Charge of the Light Brigade",imperialistic glory,another empireglorified and defended."Bless me Father, for I have sinned.It's been eight yearssince my last confession.These are my sins:"Blind - to the painDeaf - to the criesDumb - too voiceless to fightfor the integrity of your homeland.I was cavorting with earthworms the day Crimea fell.Russian Orthodox sanctimonious stoogesof Rasputin's regime.No heaven for Ukraine,only hell.Belzebub at work.I've been a disgrace,a disgrace to my mother and father.They had Hungarians to dinneron Christmas Day.Short trousers on,across the table, in Limerick,I saw strangersand brothers in one,conjoined in solidarity.He carved the turkey,she passed the platesto God's childrenworthy of everlasting love.The cock crowed three times.Ireland, silence."It will never happen here,in Europe.Didn't we have the Nazis?Haven't we learned?"Chicken Ki-ev,How do you pronounce Kyiv?Vladimir's Meccamissiled, starved, frozen, flattened, bombed, burnt, killed, refugeed, droned, wrecked, obliterated, smoldering,mud, trenches, shells, graves, amputees, Dulce et decorum est ...It is sweet and fitting to war for one’s country.Moscow smiles,the dachas warm,swimming pools of vodka and champagne.More boys to throw into the special military operation,more mouthsmore guts,more coffins, blankets and pillows for the other world.Let them go loot and rape,berserkers in the breadbasket of Europein wheatfields,in the eyes of infants, schoolchildren & pets. Isn't it easy to smile surrounded by sycophants?I will remember the weather,the sun, the fires, the drought,the melted ice,the desertification of holiday homes for a few days. Forever, I will remember the six million crossing borders,looking for helping hands,succour, shelter, food, friends,fleeing from freezing cold.thirst, hypothermia and the pleasure of gonorrhea.I will remember the dead,my naivety, ignorance, and safety,insolence and impotence.I will not forgive.