In six years
Crimea’s man
crushed ice
blocks thawed the freeze
merging eastern slope
and western plain.
Grey Berlin wall
concrete blocks fall
dismantling democratising
union of pro and no go
Soviet Socialist Republic
Reagan and Thatcher knew
Not two decades later
Nobel Peace Winner
Would not halt war
In six months
Ukraine’s forbidden
golden grain
brings hunger pain
Russian sanctioned oil
cook no western pot
and budget braces
lose Putin’s races
to undo or redo
old eastern glory days
Gorbachev-
He died without regret
for fences broken
arsenals contained
animosities reduced
as cultures merged
in gymnastic freedom
to skate their Olympic dance
to Straus’ rhythm
beyond Danube waters
and diamond iron curtain
where rubble of rouble
counts body bags
of cut-short lives
God grant us peace
apart from politics
of republican and democratic
for they too shall cease.
Image sourced from National Security Acrhives