Peaceful Skies

Thinking of Nastya Shpot
(a 15-year-old Ukrainian refugee)

“Throw your dreams into space like a kite, and you do not know what it will bring back, a new life, a new friend, a new love, a new country.”........Anais Nin

She dreams of peaceful skies
She longs for a place where dreams
Live free and sleep comes softly and safely 

A time void of explosions all around - no
harrowing drones racing  across the sky 
Creating a place of torment, trampling 
Visions of hope. 

She seeks safety for family and friends
Wishing for a time of normalcy where
Normalcy isn’t hiding and running afraid
You’ll be taken - or even worse, you’ll 
Be left behind.

To grow up in a time of war can smother 
Your spirit. War times make you grow 
Old much too fast. 

These are the times she should be
contemplating which movie to see, a time when 
she should be dancing too much - 
Loving life and laughing with her friends until her
Stomach hurts. 
Planning parties and experimenting with makeup 
and different hair colors; picking out crazy outfits.
These are the times she should be dreaming of 
Falling in love and maybe about her first kiss

I pray for times where days are light and 
Easy, and nights unencumbered by 
the weighted terror of the night skies 

I wish for her, for her family, for her nation, 
a time of respite, of solace, a time that’s 
unfettered from fear……
But above all, I wish for her (Myrne nebo)

peaceful skies ……… Never give up!