Alexander Fhionnuisce is a writer in the Republic of Ireland. He is a past contributor to this blog.

On Invasions II – 01/08/2022

by Alexander Fhionnuisce

I told myself to build the monument and let it shine like the sun,
After I’d watched it settle, the cement, and all the labour was done,

I set the monument aside,
heart heavy with relatable trauma, and I went and played guitar.

I kept playing guitar as the days passed, and watched my attention reserves dwindle with every shot and launch and blast,
A fresh new rage I could not enkindle.

As Ukraine spends sons and daughters warring to exist,
I have consigned those slaughters
to mere mental mist.

The mirror shows me what I am,
a coward of fleeting heart,
I have not the training or strength of arm to do my martial part,
So I pen a poem, the little I can give
but how much can pixels on a screen matter to those fighting just to live?

I will give what I can, and do what I may, but I cannot let a single day
pass without seeing the truth:
my heart is smaller than I thought,

I am idle of hand and blunt of tooth.