Blood in Borscht

A War Poem from Ukraine

Photo by Natasha Sennett: Kyiv 2023

There’s blood in our Borscht
Red, it runs in rivers down
Dead leaves, soldiers lost
Children gone, sorrow, tears
Blood in Borscht for years
Faces of Our Fallen stare
As I cross St Sophia’s square
Salty tears fall in Our Borscht
Anger is our dash of pepper
Flesh of our flesh where are you?
In a trench firing at the horde?
Lying dead waiting to be collected?

There is blood in our Borscht
Blood of our soldiers
Blood of our children
Blood of our families
Blood of our friends
Blood of the innocent
Blood of our pain

Woe will not rule us
We will eat our Borscht
And we will remember
That blood is the sacrifice
Which we must eat and drink
Blessed blood of Holy Ones
Not tainted blood of muscovy