"Kharkov 2"

by Anthony Roberts

I was wrong
the earth still has room
to welcome into its bosom
the frozen sons of mothers
who wonder along with others
what fate has befallen
the fruits of their womb

No tomb for Vanya
No grave for Ivan
Nikolai’s bones incomplete
remain there upon the street
or scattered in fields where wheat
will grow around the green tunic
that fades into earth stained tan

Dear Vladimir has sent a van
that can quickly incinerate a man
So his ashes blow upon the wind
the lie repeated of
“we lost so few, but still we win”

While the only thing more cold
than the body of the son in Kharkov laying in the snow
is the heart of the mother
who will never know the lie
while the wind perhaps blows wisps of him
as it passes by 

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Anthony Roberts is a veteran of Baltimore and Afghanistan. He currently lives in New Jersey in a home with beautiful views and interlocking fields of fire.

Listen to our Savage Wonder episode with him here.

He is the author of the Pushcart Prize-nominated Pigtown and The Clearing Barrel.

You can follow him here.

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Learn more about the Veterans Repertory Theater here.