Time for writing is limited today. I did not post yesterday. Posting nothing again would be morally indefensible under the circumstances. This was the lead paragraph in The Morning news update from the New York Times: First, a news update: Russia continued its broad offensive in Ukraine today, pummeling cities and towns. Ukrainian officials…
This morning in a fog, dazed in disbelief. The siege of Ukraine continues. The port of Kherson has fallen. It is a city of 300,000. The bombardment of other cities continues. My mind reels at the news, that Xi Jinping General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party asked Putin of Russia to delay the…
The well of desire! Am I falling into a well? Or like Moses, am I to ascend? Do I rise to a divine calling? What metaphor best describes the palpable sensation of absence, some “thing” that is missing, a loss that must be sought after? How many ways to describe the quest, that ends…
Can I, should I take a break in writing about the defense of Ukraine? Yes and no… Life is many things. Even in war there are interludes in assault, in the effort to destroy and kill. Especially in abject misery, in ravening terror — a pause is useful to recognize, to feel gratitude that…
Monday morning, the Russian assault on Kyiv continues. Ukrainian resistance has been fierce, the intended lightning quick investment of the capital city bogged down. The Russians have sufficient armor, artillery and infantry to squeeze the outnumbered defenders. Infrastructure is destroyed in the course of the shelling, rocket attacks, the street fighting. For information on…
Zelensky turned down a US offer of evacuation, the Ukraine Embassy in Britain said Saturday on Twitter. “The fight is here; I need ammunition, not a ride,” Zelensky told the US, according to the embassy. — CNN Until his surprise election in 2019, Volodymyr Zelenskyy played a president on TV. Today, the 44-year-old is…
Saturday morning, gleaming sunlight upon pure fallen show, and at Starbucks I wrestle with words again. Each day presents a new contestation to say what is sayable. Before turning in last night I noted that on television an interview conducted with a female Ukrainian diplomat. By all appearances it was a measured, sober, responsible…
“Western leaders and diplomats,” she wrote, “think they live in a world where rules matter, where diplomatic protocol is useful, where polite speech is valued. All of them think that when they go to Russia, they are talking to people whose minds can be changed by argument or debate. They think the Russian elite…
How to Kill by Keith Douglas Under the parabola of a ball, a child turning into a man, I looked into the air too long. The ball fell in my hand, it sang in the closed fist: Open Open Behold a gift designed to kill. Now in my dial of glass appears the soldier…
The tendency of all … who have ever wanted to write or talk Ethics or Religion was to run against the boundaries of language. This running against the walls of our cage is perfectly, absolutely hopeless. Ethics so far as it springs from the desire to say something about the ultimate meaning of life,…
