Open Door Policy

 

2 March 2022

--We will keep the door open, says the diplomat.

--We will keep the door open, says the president.

--We will keep the door open, says the tyrant.

--We will keep the door open, says the border guard.

--We will keep the door open, says the chef.

Babushka holds anti-nuclear signs, almost as tall as she is, in her dark coat and cap. One darth vader stands at each of her elbows; they lean over, their helmets black. Each vader takes one of her elbows. She does not drop her signs. The camera lens is left behind.

He says he cannot post the video. It’s too horrible. So he describes it.

Old woman toe to toe with Russian soldier. She talks to him about sunflowers, but she does not put one inside the muzzle of his gun.

Column of Russian tanks meets column of unarmed Ukrainians. Traffic jam as resistance.

Bright lemons hang in front of a blue house. Bright yellow strip on telephone pole beneath blue sky. Blue wooden support beam meets yellow at the site of a torn spider web. (That photograph lost to digital hash.)

She sees balance in her being on 1) a Russian to-kill list, and 2) Ukrainian top 10 Bachelorette.

“Fuck you, Russian ship.”

What have I done to stop the war today? Eaten my cereal. Taken my walk. Sat down under ohia bird canopy to type. Years ago, I got a call at 3 a.m. to tell me that my mother had fallen down.

Her elbow was broken, but her bones were too fragile to set.

--We will keep the door open.

What says the door?