More for Ukraine

Thank you Caterel for sharing the poems. Perfect follow up to my recent post The Question Remains Unanswered

catterel

Like many others, I read the news (because I can’t bear to watch) about the war raging in Ukraine, and feel helpless, powerless. I grew up in the industrial Midlands of England during WW2, and my lullabies were sirens and bombs exploding. But I never experienced the horror of an armed invasion. How long can we sit back and refrain from action?

These are my translations of two more of Nelly Sachs’ poems that are as topical and relevant today as when she wrote them. The poem about the sunflower, in particular, as a symbol of Ukraine, is chilling in this context.

1.

You lookers-on
Who saw murder done before your eyes.
Just as you feel someone looking at you from behind,
so you feel on your back
the gaze of the dead.
How many dying eyes will look at you
when from the hiding places you pluck a violet?

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Easter Sunday Soliloquy

A World Apart

“Do not abandon yourselves to despair.
We are the Easter people and hallelujah is our song.”
Pope John Paul II (Karol Wojtyła)

In this very troubled world the above quote from Pope John Paul II brightens my day.

Whether or not, we are celebrating a religious festival/commemoration we can enjoy the days. But not everyone can. I lamented hard and long on the wars being fought around the world in my postThe Question Remains Unansweredand I don’t intend to go over it again. I would rather brighten your day and mine, so look instead atGood Morning, Good Friday.

So to today. Looking back at all the Easter Sundays I have enjoyed over this long life, I remember

Growing up in London all those years ago, Easter was an important time in our calendar. We, three girls, went to church in our new clothes to celebrate Easter…

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