FREEDOM

Poem for my homeland Ukraine

FREEDOM

Where the white birch trees grow

I make a way through the path

With kobzars songs

Carried in the wind, no less,

A little pocket knife

Cuts my hand

Yet I have no worry,

As I drink the sap to no end,

Then by the weeping willows

I listen to the river birds

They sing of those who went

And those who are yet to go,

The lands tell many stories

Of sorrow and pain,

A nation of people

Who stand till the last grain,

In the next moment I walk upon

Old cobblestone streets,

A smell of coffee,

Cozy memories my mind greets,

Ancient church rises up

Right in front of me,

The Holy Spirit

In these walls I can see,

People who laugh

When there is pain,

And pray

When others feel no hope,

They are not so worried, for

Sacrifice is not in vain,

For there are children

These sunflowers of God,

All over the nation

Future so bright,

With bells of freedom

Sound of which comes through

Vast golden wheat fields

They’ll sing the songs

They’ll dance and cheer,

Those heroes who sleep

Deep beneath,

We will never forget,

Never despair,

The bright star above

Shines through all darkness,

Eternal sand in the hand,

Rejoice, as if now,

You’ll rest in the end.