Amelia Anisovych rises to sing:
shaken world pauses to listen,

Eta ideal'naya devushka ushla
Zdes' ya stoyu v svete dnya
Pust' bushuyet burya,
 
… then slips across the border;
scared, scarred, guarded.

Maria Ovsyannikova holds her sign;
valiant image gliding over media.

“NO WAR. Stop the war. 
Ne ver'te propagande
 Oni lgut vam zdes'.

… carrying truth’s first wounds;
deceive, delude, gaslight.

Unnamed women beat breasts;
wailing for the sacrificial lamb

Daughters of Jerusalem, 
do not weep for me, 
weep for yourselves,
for your children

… life slips away from death’s snare,
Magdalene, Joanna, Mary, Maria, Amelia …

Testify!

Craig Muir Lent 2022