Stalin’s sordid spirit lurking
His genocide aligns
With Putin’s crimes against humanity
Ukraine Cossack spirit thrived
Despite great powers drawing lines
From 1500s on, and each time
Ukraine’s thirst for freedom lived
After WWI, Ukraine tried to stand tall
But the Red Army rolled in to stop it all
Revolutionary Bolsheviks’ clarion call
Welcome to the Soviet Union
When Ukraine’s farms were seized in 1933
It was retaliation, by Stalin’s decree
Over 3 million Ukrainians died of starvation
Today, tens of thousands of Ukrainians have been killed
Millions more scattered internally and around Europe
Putin bombs schools, hospitals, churches, electrical and water infrastructure
War-crime acts to force Ukraine to again capitulate
Now Ash Wednesday coming again, time to pay rent
What now to sacrifice for this year’s lent?
While the house a pile of rubble, living in a tent
One year on in the war
How many more cities will be destroyed
While people are tired and freezing
No electricity, no heat, limited food and water
Down to basics
Keep breathing
But Ukraine Cossack spirit thrives
Freedom-lovers of the world unite
The ghost of the Soviet empire still haunts
This time the ghost must die
Waipahu Bob 