Mariupol
81 years after the Liberation of Auschwitz.
Oh the first time I read about
Where my family’s from
I spent the next hour gagging
On the bathroom tile
Who has tended the graves
Who has lit the candles
Kept alive the flames
Under the storm winds
Ima I don’t feel good
Can you hear me from here
I can’t tell you over the phone
Over the phone
Ima do you still care
Such lucky girls we are
Such nice girls we were
Before the salt set in
Forgive me family
I turned to look
I could not help but look
Who has tended the graves
Who has lit the candles
Kept alive the flames
Under the storm winds
Do you know the word
For a parent who has
Lost a child
There isn’t one
There isn’t one
In no human language
Not even there
Not even here
Five children
I don’t know the names of
In the old kladovyshche
Branch after branch
Lost to their ovens
The picnic meadows filled
With wedding guests
Cousins in the snow
Cousins against the walls
Wave after wave
Crashed upon the shores
Wave after wave
Crashed upon the shores
Forgive me family
I did not turn sooner
I did not look back faster
Spear and bullet
Gas and chains
Wires and radio
It’s still the same
War you’ve left to us
Centuries ago
Ships and drones
Fuck you all
Fuck You all
Back to the hell
You crawled from
Slava Mariupol
