1
Limited weapons, allies needed, where’s NATO?
Martial law, severe sanctions, “we don’t afraid of them.”
Sand bags and camouflage, separatist troops, conflict building.
Disrupted supplies, industrial metals and other commodities.
Interlinked energy, dependent demand. Hard assets up, soft ones down.
Leverage. Leverage the Saudis. You got Russia in your head.
See how Libya went? Ukrainian wheat shipments fell twice over,
the stomach of the Middle East left growling.
It’s the Donbas, dumbass. The president is a comedian.
They’ve been fighting in the east for eight years now.
Full-fledged operations in the Black Sea.
Amphibious landing in Odesa,
and I don’t mean Texas.
Shoot down the drones!
2
My dad used to send out emails on a night like this. He’d say something like, “Putin on the move!” I remember him beaming one morning many years ago when the first Bush launched an operation to capture Manuel Noriega.
3
Lay down your arms and go home.
Cruise and ballistic, headquarters and airports.
Shoot down the dreams!
Don’t panic. That thud we heard was only
the republic breaking away, like a glacier
into hungry water.
“No one here can quite believe this is actually happening.”
Flagrant aggression.
Prime number,
Prime minister,
Prime Meridian.
The worst war this century.
Barbarism, travel bans, asset freezes.
Media backed by Kremlin.
4
We gave up our nukes
and look at us now.
Where are our backers?
Where are the guarantors?
“They’re very well prepared for this offensive.”
The sanctions are not enough.
Target not only the oligarchs
but his whole inner circle.
And the banks, don’t forget the banks!
5
A series of explosions, cruise missiles, international journalists,
jets and ambulances. Full-scale war waged by neighbors to the east.
Turn back the clock to the time of empire,
tear down the architecture of peace.
Air raid sirens.
Go home.
Fight or die.
The columns are armored.
Explosions echo, history readies its pen.
6
What do I do?
What do I do now?
And what will happen next?
The country as a whole, the whole country
under attack by another.
Border forces, aircraft downed, a couple hundred thousand troops
up against a super-power.
Queues of cars fleeing the capital.
The ones who stayed taking shelter in the Metro.
Civil defense.
Stockpiling: cash food water.
Relieved and scared,
at least the onslaught has started.
When you have something useful to do,
this brings you strength.
The Writing of John B. Randall 