# War

By [a forestbather in ukraine](https://paragraph.com/@starlingsson) · 2022-10-13

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to stay alive

empty your pockets

empty your soul

leave your locket behind

and the name of the contact

if you lose your heart, your stomach

your mind

when I arrived

the trees along the riverside were bare

of leaves

and all was stark, and cold

and I was alone

many have come and gone

even the leaves are dropping now

and bombs

and people

and dreams, they left too, like the birds

I don’t hear anymore

no dreams, no fantasy, no hope

only one certitude

we will win we say

in whispers, or to the morning coffee

in our cups

even with a grin, sometimes

we will win

as the morning shivers in

and the callous explosions

boom! boom! boom! again

I know, I’m scared to leave

like the last leaf, on the last tree standing

scared to see again what was normal

to stand waiting for a bus, or for breakfast

or for the pedestrian crossing to turn green

for here there are no laws

none

I never wait for a bus

we drive at any speed we want

fast, faster or even faster

who among us has even a licence?

to kill? you don’t need one

to understand? forget it, son, forget

while you can

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*Originally published on [a forestbather in ukraine](https://paragraph.com/@starlingsson/war)*