Today’s New Verse News: CROSSING THE DNIEPER
by W. Luther Jett
The small motor boat carrying Tetiana Svitlova and her husband, Vladyslav Svitlov, was hit by gunfire as the couple crossed the Dnieper River on Sunday. (Heidi Levine for The Washington Post, December 6, 2022)
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For Tetiana Svitlova, 75, who was shot by a sniper while crossing the Dnieper from Russian-occupied territory to liberated Kherson.
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There is snow on the boat now where the woman fell while crossing the river two hours ago—where the woman in that moment reached out for her husband—two hours ago mid-river the woman fell—snow covers the boat—the place where she fell crossing the grey river— she was shot—have we mentioned?— that is why she fell— crossing the river now is dangerous— there is snow now to cover the place she—the woman— bled out crossing the river—on her way to safety
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W. Luther Jett is a native of Montgomery County, Maryland and a retired special educator. His poetry has been published in numerous journals as well as several anthologies. He is the author of five poetry chapbooks: Not Quite: Poems Written in Search of My Father (Finishing Line Press, 2015), Our Situation (Prolific Press, 2018), Everyone Disappears (Finishing Line Press, 2020), Little Wars (Kelsay Books, 2021), and Watchman, What of the Night? (CW Books, 2022).