Ukraine – Nemasha Manifested
Neshama ancient name for breath, for life, for the living soul. This ancient word finds me at dawn as a living entity, shimmering,as I, far off helpless cheer-leader, pound sunflower pom poms, post poems and pretty pictures punctuating my unadulterated incompetence to truly assist. With each breath, my shame inhaled, my safe existence exhaled, I sit, pace, run in place, watching, watching, the soul of freedom unfurl in streets of my ancestors annihilated long ago. I am beside myself, steeped in helpless outrage, one particle part of the wave of this watching world. Watching unmilitary men lift weapons and kiss loved ones off, watching mothers craft Molotovs babes at breast, watching those who must go, walk sit, sleep in the cold, watching basement shelters and mothers smile for the children, Watch the faces of elders who remember other times thoughtfolded and put away on a high shelf of painful remembrance. My soul screams as I watch, donations and words, my only weapons. Neshama, we are all One, As one the vile violence of missiles pierce my ears, my home rubble, my throat parched, my breasts ache with milk, my heart pounds liftingan unfamiliar weapon to my shoulder. I listen to that singular voice rise in a clarion call to all to come to come, to fight as the Never Again stares with malevolent eyes, targeting infants, elderly and all in the in-between. Listen to this clarion call ring as carillon bells, shaking all our souls to sacrosanct freedom. We are one. As one we must soak in passion poured by Ukraine as she stands in the breech, for us all, between Never and Again. Neshama, breath and soul, soul in breath, manifested in majesty – Ukraine, shimmering through crimson blood, the Glory of life. Unstoppable
03.2022