Dear Ukraine
A GLOBAL COMMUNITY POEM
“Dear Ukraine” is a global community poem that provides a space for individuals around the world to speak to the unfolding atrocities of the war against Ukraine and its people.
In recognition of the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Wick Poetry Center is pleased to announce the installation of the Dear Ukraine global community poem exhibit in the Washington National Cathedral’s Center for Prayer and Pilgrimage.
Dear Ukraine
by
Julia
Kolchinsky
Dasbach
DEAR UKRAINE Read in English
Україна, рідна READ IN UKRAINIAN
Украина, родная READ IN RUSSIAN
I’m so far from your earth,
your dead, your suffering.
This expanse is nothing
but a singing wound.
Still, I reach for you, Ukraine—
as I drive my children to daycare
and sob in my car, then go on
with the day while you tug
and tear at me Ukraine—thorn,
anchor, stone, seed.
I want your sunflowers to rise
across the water, fields and fields
ablaze. They’ll burn anyone
who dares to cut them down.
Dear Ukraine, you are snowfall
and ash. Your water vapor and smoke
hang heavy in the air.
Even here, they soak the earth.
Take shelter, if only in this
song and soil, if only
for a moment, take shelter here.
RESPOND
Read Julia Kolchinsky Dasbach’s poem, “Dear Ukraine” and then select a prompt to share your voice.
VIEW RESPONSES
To see your own contribution and the voices of others, visit the link below.
GLOBAL
CONTEXT
Although the focus of this project is on Ukraine, we respectfully acknowledge the long histories of millions around the globe who have been, and continue to be, devastated by forces of oppression that endanger life and deny human rights.
We bear witness from our varying degrees of distance and relation to the war against Ukraine and other forms of violence, at home and abroad. We believe poetry and the arts can be an essential way to respond to trauma, make meaning, and connect communities across languages and borders.
ABOUT
THE POET
Julia Kolchinksy Dasbach emigrated from Dnipro, Ukraine as a Jewish refugee in 1993, when she was six years old and grew up in a Russian-speaking household. She is the author of The Many Names for Mother (The Kent State University Press), winner of the Stan and Tom Wick Poetry Prize; Don't Touch the Bones, from Lost Horse press, publisher of a Contemporary Ukrainian Poetry Series; and the forthcoming 40 WEEKS. Read her full bio here.
DONATE
Donate now to the Kent State University Ukrainian Scholar Support Fund.
Donate now to our Unicef campaign to support Ukraine.
Donate now to the World Central Kitchen.
IN THE MEDIA
Spectrum News
The Wick Poetry Center’s Traveling Stanzas community arts projects bring poetry to people’s everyday lives through innovative methods and digital platforms.