My son (who had recently penned a story based on the Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine from two children’s perspective) has been really distressed to see the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the perceived inability to stop it. This poem is for our children who take in everything.
We take bullying very seriously
We try to discipline a bully
And the ones who are bullied, protect
We teach our children self-respect
So with being bullied they learn to deal
Now they see how bullying is being revealed
On a world stage, as a megalomaniac drunk with power
Bullies Ukraine increasingly by the hour
And all the adults who sit in positions prominent
Watch haplessly at a devastating war imminent
They had told the children to not tolerate
Bullies, when faced with one, instead,
Of trying to fight they stand back
Placing worthless sanctions, without the nerve to hack
The unbridled aggression unleashed by the bully
The plight of the bullied Ukrainians our children see..
*
The world is manipulated by people with power
Is unfortunately the narrative of the hour
We tell our children to pray for the oppressed
But we fail to show them how the bully obsessed
With demonstrating his power we can restrain
I hope we can change the narrative again
And tell our children that bullying is neither going to be
Tolerated in school, or tolerated globally
(Sunflower is the national flower of Ukraine, hence the image)
Passion...unbridled 