{"id":551,"date":"2022-04-28T10:33:24","date_gmt":"2022-04-28T09:33:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jimclarke.net\/?p=551"},"modified":"2022-04-28T10:34:15","modified_gmt":"2022-04-28T09:34:15","slug":"the-whales-are-returning-to-kiev","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jimclarke.net\/index.php\/2022\/04\/28\/the-whales-are-returning-to-kiev\/","title":{"rendered":"The Whales are Returning to Kiev"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

For Ireland’s national poetry day<\/a>, here’s a poem from a couple of years back with a Ukraine theme. It was from that moment in lockdown when everyone was cooing about nature returning. The first three or so stanzas – all of those things did actually happen.

It imagines not only a world without Ukraine but a world without us. And that’s where we’re headed if we can’t find a way to get past war. Not just this one, but all war.

On that cheery note, as promised here are some whales overhead, courtesy of Kiev’s Maxim Garifullin:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

The wolves returned to Pripyat <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once all the people had fled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Now sheep stroll the streets in Atakum <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And goats gambol through Llandudno.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kangaroos colonise Adelaide,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And deer graze on the lawns of East London.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Fish and dolphins have fled back to Venice,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Peacocks strut proudly through New Delhi,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A puma prowled around Santiago,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And alligators crawl inside shopping malls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Wild boar root for food in Ajaccio,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Monkeys fight on the road in Lompuri,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The coyotes now run San Francisco,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And a sealion was spotted in Buenos Aires.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

The whales are returning to Kiev.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Herds of unicorn gallop through Paris.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Angels can be seen on the streets of Berlin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And none of them miss us at all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For Ireland’s national poetry day, here’s a poem from a couple of years back with a Ukraine theme. It was from that moment in lockdown when everyone was cooing about nature returning. The first three or so stanzas – all of those things did actually happen. It imagines not only a world without Ukraine but … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “The Whales are Returning to Kiev”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[5],"tags":[211,127,279,393],"class_list":["post-551","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poetry","tag-climate-crisis","tag-poetry","tag-ukraine","tag-whales"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t