I will never forget

Your oval face

It’s etched

Forever

In my mind

 

Your almond eyes

Of deepest brown

Stare out at me

From the page

You look at me

Directly

I see a girl

Full

Of hope

And pride

 

I am reminded

Of my own

Child

When she was

Your age

Ten

Maybe eleven

I imagine you

Were like her

Fun and free

And wild

 

 

She has three

Children

Of her own

Unlike you

She had the chance

To become

Fully grown

 

I have no words

To express

The sadness

That engulfs

My heart

 

One so young

So beautiful

Cruelly taken

By a senseless

Futile

War

 

Shot dead

For what?

Only Putin

Can explain

 

Polina, the girl

With the pink

Stripe in your hair

Your life was

Just

About to start

 

I can see you now

Smiling

As you gaze

At your reflection

And admire your

Flossy Pink hair

 

Skipping through

Your neighborhood

With pizzazz

And flare

 

A little girl

Playful to the end

Your innocence

Consumed

By an evil presence

At a time

When the world

Needs your

Kindness

More than ever

Before

 

Pilona

I cannot kiss

It better

Nothing I do

Can explain

Your absence

Why you are gone

Forevermore

 

All I can do

Is to write

This letter

And promise you

I will never forget

Your face

Nor your

Pink hair

 

To me

You are

And always will be

The face

Of Ukraine

An enduring symbol

Of their pain.

 

C.K. 22