Jacob van Hulsdonck’s Tulips and carnations in an earthenware vase (c. 1610)

***

suddenly

unexpected

cast iron milk spilled

the stale blood broke

mom stretched out her hands to her children

children pretend not to notice their mother's attempts

mom screams and look from the side at her bloody milky face

children bury their mother in tired cemetery

***

the death of a kittу is a terrible sight

the death of a baby rabbit or puppy is a terrible sight

the death of a plant is a terrible sight

the death of a man is a feat because it is sweet to die for the sake of the homeland

it’s scary to imagine how animals and plants live without patriotism and nuclear bombs

***

Every ark is a titanic

Every speaker is Hitler

Every affection is slavery

Every date is lonely

I'm turning to stone from the cold of a hot war

Silence is the heaviest thing in the durability of a stone

***

oh my god no one will fuck me so

that the aircraft carrier will fall into my throat

from overload

the wooden night is unable to hide

my excitement

to the sound of a siren

i fuck with a drunken lover in the hope that if a

nuclear explosion suddenly happens

then they won’t be able to separate us

from each other

***

red rays of poetry

what can be discussed

in world poetry today besides war?

the hungry sun warms

the well-fed corpses of soldiers

Mykyta Ryzhykh is an author from Ukraine who now lives in Tromsø, Norway. Ryzhykh was nominated for Pushcart Prizes in 2023 and 2024 and has been published many times in literary magazines in Ukrainian and English.