Barbara Ehrentreu
The sunflower sways in the windIts petals flutter but the center stays strongThe stems bend but do not breakSo it will be with you fine peopleWho have been torn from the peaceAnd freedom you cherishAnd now must flee or perishLeaving loved ones to fightAnd departing sometimes late in the nightFor a place where you can be safe
And the madness continuesAs a crazed leader thinks he can forceHis will on anywhere he choosesWhose own people do not agreeAnd to whom the entire worldhas turned its back Rejected the empty words of his ambassadorsas he bombed the sacred place of Babyn YarA place of horrors from another deranged leaderwho forced his will on this same countryAnd who most and sadly not all detest
Yet this beleaguered country survivesAs the sunflowers will grow tall and strongFor freedom is the fuel that feeds their dissentWhile the soldiers do their tyrant’s bidding halfheartedlyThe brave fight with all their mightTo keep their freedom and their country alive. 2022
Into the quiet of early morningbeyond the borders of citiesadorned with architecture of bygone daysturrets and decorated buildings in a tranquil city innocent as a virgina tyrant decided in his autocratic mind to get back what he believes is his
Brought his might to trounce this fragile countryPlayed chess with world leadersKnowing all the time he would surround and attack
Guns, explosions, missiles, tanks are the tools of war and will be usedBut there is the soul of the country’s peoplewho will fight to their death to keep their freedom
And though we are thousands of miles away my heart is thereBeating with the anguished people hearing the sirens and it is there in the bomb shelters as terrified people pray they will find their home when they emerge
The tyrant must be vanquished so life can be lived as it should without his evil designs destroying the life of a country peacefully being itself.
But to a tyrant he wants what he wants when he wants it. This is against the laws of man!
2022
There was an abundance of joy and camaraderie in the streetsof Ukrainian cities even after some of them had been attacked.And though it felt like there was an abundance of attacks against themstill, the small army resisted with an abundance of strength.For they had an abundance of hope generated by the fact thatthey were defending their homelandfrom invaders who barely knew why they were there.
And yet there was an abundance of shock and sorrowas the remnants of the heinous crimes committed by these interlopersfiltered into the sight of those who had not been privy to thisand the horror of once again seeing war crimes perpetratedon innocent people created an abundance of shame and sorrowagainst the ones who did this.
It is such a sad loss and an unspeakable and disgusting experienceto once again see people destroyed by the hands of invaders for theirown ends and we as the people of the world have an abundance ofdistaste for this kind of behavior and wish to see it ended.
We have an abundance of the law on our sideas we try to stop this despicable attack on an innocent country.They have trod on the sunflowers and yet they will rise up againto smile in the sunshine of the world's love.
2022
Barbara Ehrentreu lives in Stamford, CT with her family. She grew up in Brooklyn and moved to Queens. She has lived and taught in Long Island, Buffalo, NY and Westchester, NY as well as a year in Los Angeles, CA, has a Masters Degree in Reading and Writing K-12 and is currently retired from teaching but she tutors.
If I Could Be Like Jennifer Taylor, inspired by Paula Danziger for her children's writing workshop at Manhattanville College, won second prize in Preditors & Editors as Best Young Adult Book for 2011.
Her second book, After, considers what can happen to a teen when her father becomes ill with a heart attack. It is based on her own experiences when her husband had a heart attack and the aftermath of what she and her family experienced. The sequel to If I Could Be Like Jennifer Taylor titled, “Who Is Jennifer Taylor?” is currently at her publisher and she is almost finished writing the last book of this series: The Mill Valley High series.
Barbara has a poetry book, You’ll Probably Forget Me: Living With and Without Hal, which won Honorable Mention in the NLAPW (National League of American Pen Women) Vinnie Ream contest for 2017.
Several of her poems are published in the anthologies: What the World Needs Now Is Poems Sweet Poems by Renee Drummond Brown, Poets Unify World, Crossroads: A Poet’s Life Journey, Poets To Come: Walt Whitman Bicentennial Anthology for 2019, “Queen”, World Poetry Open Mic 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, Prompted: An International Collection of Poetry, Beyond the Dark Room, Storm Cycle and Backlit Barbell.
In addition, her short screenplay for “The Kiss” won 1st Prize for a Romantic short screenplay at Indie Gathering, and won Honorable Mention for Best Dialogue in a Short at Action on Film Festival.
She is the Regional Director for the West for Motivational Strips, the world’s most visited writers’ website, and she has received several awards from Motivational Strips and some other foreign governments including: the coveted Indian Independence Day Honor from Gujarat Shaitya Academy on August 15, 2020 and 2021, Cesar Vallejo Premier Mundio 2020 from Union Hispanomundial de Escritores (UHS) and Motivational Strips, Premio Mundial A La Excelencia Literaria 2019-2020, The Order of Shakespeare Medal.
From Khazakhstan she received World Poetic Star, August 23, 2019. She has a blog, Barbara's Meanderings, and hosts a radio show on Blog Talk Radio, Books and Entertainment Tales from the Pages, once a month. On Facebook she is a member of several poetry groups, including: The Garden of Poetry and Prose. She belongs to Greenwich Pen Women Letters and SCBWI.