While it seems very, very far out of reach tonight, I dream of a time that #Ukrainians and their loved ones in #Ukraine and around the world can sleep in safety and peace with war a distant memory.

While #Russia can - apparently - keep pouring weapons and artillery systems and tanks and helicopters and planes and boats and trucks and tanks into #Ukraine, how long will it be before the loved ones of the 40,500 troops lost in this misbegotten war begin to question #Putin’s leadership?

The human toll of #Russia’s assault on #Ukraine is incalculable. The needless, heartless devastation of buildings and infrastructure compounds this suffering. Each structure was the work of designers, architects, engineers, construction workers, artisans, builders, and maintenance staff, providing #Ukrainians with residences, workplaces, schools, libraries, museums, cultural landmarks, train stations, bridges, marketplaces, sports arenas, theaters, concert halls, hospitals, and much more.

Part of the anguish of #Russia’s brutal assault on #Ukraine is the amount of destruction that serves no military purpose other than breaking the human spirit. While the #Ukrainian people have proven themselves stronger than most, there are surely limits to what they can endure. We must do more to support them in their struggle.

This local peace vigil for #Ukraine seems so very long ago. Their struggle is our struggle, and we ignore it at our peril. America’s siege may be less obvious to outsiders, but it’s very real and escalating by the day.

People need to STOP asking #Ukraine’s #VolodymirZelenskyy what territory he’d be willing to cede to #Russia in exchange for some theoretical “peace.” Imagine that your home was violently invaded, and the criminals offered to stop threatening you, your kids, and your pets if you let them stay in your house, eat your food, and live off your salary. The answer is NO. Hell, NO. Do. Not. Negotiate. With. Terrorists.

Before you complain about your additional workload at home or on the job, please spare a thought for #Ukraine’s #VolodymyrZelenskyy who faces existential challenges he could never have imagined.

It seems like years ago that I bought and collected clothing, shoes, blankets, and personal care products for #Ukrainian refugees and winter hats, socks, and long underwear for Ukrainian soldiers. Our area filled multiple shipping containers destined for #Ukraine via Poland in March. I included faux sunflowers in each bag that I packed to give the recipients something symbolic of their war-torn homeland. Looking back, it seems like a single teardrop in an ocean of anguish. We must do more.

#Putin’s savage assault on #Ukraine has not been without massive #Russian casualties. How much longer can he keep this news from the loved ones of the 38,140 troops who were left to fertilize sunflowers where they fell in the fields of Ukraine?

Imagining a day - sadly far, far in the future - when everyone in #Ukraine and their loved ones around the world can finally relax like this #cat on an Italian wall. #Caturday

Yes, the people of #Ukraine are resolute, and willing to risk everything to fight for their country and their democracy, but they can’t do it alone. We need to do more, much more. Any ideas?

As we marvel at the tenacity of the #Ukrainian people, we also need to recognize the toll that that tenacity takes on families and on #Ukraine as a whole. This siege is far from over. What more can we - average people far away - be doing to help?

It feels like years have passed since this local peace vigil for #Ukraine. With our own democracy teetering on the brink, we dare not forget the #Ukrainian struggle against #Russia.

What else can we - average folks - do to help the people of #Ukraine and support their existential fight against #Russia?

What more can we - average folks - be doing to help the people of #Ukraine?

#Ukraine suffering
Rages as we fight our own
Outrage overload

#CoSoHaiku #CoSoPoetry

I’m tired of explaining my motives to people who don’t “get” altruism. When pressed by a friend on whether I’d bought a ticket for a car raffle as we had last year, I said, “no, all my money is focused on helping #Ukraine.” “Why?”, he asked. “Do you have family there?”. “No”, I said, to his bafflement. Yesterday, I told the guy taking my blood donation that I was a 3rd generation donor. He asked, “Did someone in your family need blood?” “No”, I explained “Nobody.” Is everyone that self serving?

On Day 100 of Putin’s 72-hour planned annexation of #Ukraine, we salute the patriotism, valor, and resolve of the #Ukrainian people - military and civilians - who have proven to the world that Democracy is worth defending.

Like #Ukraine, we are
Under siege by those who’d end
Our #Democracy

#IStandWithUkraine #CoSoPoetry #Haiku #CoSoHaiku

First they cared, but now
With 100 days of war
Some forget #Ukraine

#Haiku #CoSoHaiku #CoSoPoetry
Artwork created by #Ukrainian artists, purchased on Etsy as digital downloads.