Video of the Ukrainian man
holed up in the steel factory with hundreds of others,
knowing his life is numbered in hours,
reminds me of the whole of human history,
of atrocities,
heralding the horrific end of a civilization,
— or a people
— a village,
— a family,
— a child.
Despairing as my body weathers this overload of empathy
I look back… so, so tired,
but see you running behind me
with a bit more energy,
hands reaching toward me,
voices breathless and eager:
Here, let me take that, while you rest a bit.
What I hand them,
what I carried all this time
is neither a burden nor a baton,
but everything I have left to give
— a torch
to light their way.
