Ludmila
by Alexandra "Allie" Lijewski
Ludmila refuted her home long ago
with Alina still wrapped around
her waist and a Kyiv classroom left empty
and clammy
and cold.
She opted
for the smell of the sea
and safety, marrying a baker and raising
a baby while learning to speak
English. She left as a Master of Education, yet
arrived unwelcomed as one.
Une prof de français: She wept
in the rainlaced window-lined
classroom to her students speaking
of the nightworld—the why’s and how’s
of her Ukrainian departure
and dwindled hope.
History is the shelled streets
and Russian tanks amassed
on a rainy border field
once happening
again.