I Like To Spell Kyiv

I like to spell Kyiv
The rough edges of K
resolving thinly into
smooth sounding yiv.

It’s a poetess’ word, Kyiv.
You read it and you imagine
a pebble-strewn riverside
flickering white in the warm sunshine.
You imagine flowers of the autumn,
blue and yellow, ones with the scent of love.

I like to spell Kyiv.
And then a man with big boots
walks over it and litters the river
with blood and bones and smokes
the flowers, blue and yellow,
into the ashen tone of a tank force.

The rivers have lost their course,
the flowers on the trees have gone.
The moon is eclipsed, and it’s raining.
What’s left with us is the word. Kyiv.
And for now the word is enough.

Gaurav Moghe works as a credit analyst weekdays, and on weeknights and weekends he resorts to reading and writing.

Featured image: A general view shows Independence Square in central Kyiv, Ukraine, February 25, 2022. Photo: Reuters/Valentyn Ogirenko