I haven’t written a post in a while, because all I had to write about was the marvelous art exhibitions I’ve seen, and I didn’t want to have an overload of those (in case you all started rolling your eyes!)
And now, everything is overshadowed by the situation in the Ukraine. It beggars belief that this is happening so close to us. Children in schools are talking of a third world war.
However, one must not forget that this is one more war in a series of wars. Syria or Afghanistan might seem further to us, but people are people, all over the world. When my Afghan student said to me, ‘I can’t concentrate today, because the Taliban are in my village and there’s fighting in the streets,’ he was no different than any of us would be in the same situation. A few days later his mum, dad and two little brothers moved to safety in Kabul—then Kabul fell. I still live in dread of bad news every time I talk to him.
The Bosnian wars, if anyone remembers them, only ended in 1995. At the time I knew various people in Greece, both Serbs and Croats, whose relatives at home were watching bridges being bombed from their kitchen windows. Who knows how many friends and relatives they lost.
What is it about men and guns? And why is always some megalomaniac allowed to rule?
This is already resulting in more population movement, more refugees, more children who suffer.
Meanwhile, I was shocked by photos of people being denied access to trains going to Poland because—unbelievable—they are black. Are we still in the 21st century?
There is some consolation to be found in poetry:
“What are the roots that clutch, what branches grow
Out of this stony rubbish? Son of man,
You cannot say, or guess, for you know only
A heap of broken images, where the sun beats,
And the dead tree gives no shelter, the cricket no relief,
And the dry stone no sound of water. Only
There is shadow under this red rock,
(Come in under the shadow of this red rock),
And I will show you something different from either
Your shadow at morning striding behind you
Or your shadow at evening rising to meet you;
I will show you fear in a handful of dust. ”
― T.S. Eliot, The Waste Land
Letters from Athens 
Beautiful collection of thoughts, anecdotes, images, and poetry. Thank you for sharing it!
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Thank you for your wonderful post.
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Absolutely terrible isn’t ….Man’s inhumanity to man. That evil meglamaniac Putin is nothing more that a war criminal. I won’t say too much I have said so much on my blog about this…. My older brother was in the army he saw service in Northern Ireland, Valise, Bosnia, and was involved but not present in the two Afghanistan wars…he’s retired now.
Strange and scary times indeed stay well and safe. 💜🇺🇦🇬🇧
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Yes. Its hard to know what to write about at the moment…
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Yes indeed that’s true 😌
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How soon the West forgets those ‘other’ wars, Marina.
Ukraine ‘plays better’ on the media, because they are white people, close to the EU.
I am just sad for it all, wherever it is.
Best wishes, Pete.
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I know, Pete. People are welcoming Ukrainians into their homes, helping with everything, which is lovely… but my heart bleeds for all the Afghans and Syrians who have also escaped war and find themselves at the back of the queue…
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What is it about men and guns? We’ll always have wars….
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Yes. A couple of years ago i had a huge argument with a friend who was trying to persuade me that soon there will be no more wars…I would so have liked him to win that argument…
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Hmm
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A nice touch of perspective, Marina
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Thanks, anonymous!
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Your post is beautiful, snd your thoughts are very real.
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Thank you, Jennie🌷
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You are welcome!
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Ah me. It’s so depressing, this circle of conflict, this paranoia and violence. It makes us reductive in our views and opinions too. Why can we never learn
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