Invasion Day +31 Putin continues his nuclear rhetoric again threatening the world, reports suggests his barbaric warfare has now unleashed white phosphorous weapons at Avdiivka with their terrible slow burning capability, a further sign of his increasing desperation. In Lyiv, Putin seeks to warn the west by shelling the town and hitting an oil depot but the population refuse to cower and continue the struggle for normality. Meanwhile demonstrations against the invasion are taking place around the world. The world is becoming a sea of yellow and blue and even in Ukraine the amazingly brave population at Slavutych near the Chernobyl nuclear site have successfully demonstrated against the invaders . Despite having stun grenades used against them the locals demonstrated and forced the invading troops to retreat. International reporting journalists continue to suffer as ever in war zones and five have now been killed with six reportedly having been kidnapped by Russian forces and seven more wounded. They are brave in their pursuit of revealing the truth for the world and we acknowledge them all here.
Today we also make a statement supporting the arts and denouncing Putin supporters and sycophants such as the once brilliant Russian opera singer Anna Netrebko who should never be allowed to perform again on the world stage. She is tarnished and she is brilliant no longer. It is one thing to sit on the fence but to publicly support Putin in the way that she has, and is continues to do, has to be sanctioned and heavily punished. In effect Netrebko and all those who support Putin ire promoting the slaughter of innocent children. And many others. All those artists who have publicly supported Putin since the invasion of Crimea in 2014 are guilty of what is happening now, had they stood out against him then, Ukraine might never have happened and the slaughter averted.
Netrebko, you are a global figure and your position is influential. Your statements of support for Putin make you as guilty as Putin himself for your support of what he is doing. Mikhail Baryshnikov, likewise you are absolutely wrong and likewise all Russian supporters of the state engineered genocide, artists or sports stars, should never be allowed to perform on the world stage again whilst they remain silent. The stand of artists such as Alexei Ratmansky must prevail. They are brave stands who use their voice in this way and we stand with them and we denounce the Putin pushers here for the sake of us all.
Today's letters:
From Felix Hodcoft, writer and poet from Scarborough, North Yorkshire.
Dear Hoggy,
Thank you for the blog and I submit the following poem for you to consider. It is one of my all-time favourites, 'Say not the struggle nought availeth' by Arthur Clough, written during the siege of Rome in 1849.
This was used by Winston Churchill to rally our nation during the dark days of 1940 and it is particularly resonant in these desperate days for Ukraine -
Here's the poem -
'Say not the struggle nought availeth.'
by Arthur Clough (1819-1861)
Say not the struggle nought availeth,
The labour and the wounds are vain,
The enemy faints not, nor faileth,
And as things have been they remain.
If hopes were dupes, fears may be liars;
It may be, in yon smoke concealed,
Your comrades chase e'en now the fliers,
And, but for you, possess the field.
For while the tired waves, vainly breaking
Seem here no painful inch to gain,
Far back through creeks and inlets making,
Comes silent, flooding in, the main.
And not by eastern windows only, When daylight comes, comes in the light, In front the sun climbs slow, how slowly, But westward, look, the land is bright.
I hope this may help!
Slava Ukraini.
Felix Hodcroft,
Poet.
Dear Felix,
'Westward look, the land is bright'. A hope for all Ukrainians and for us all in the world.
Thank you Felix, this is a mighty powerful poem indeed and as you rightly say resonant for the situation in Ukraine. Thank you for it. As you say a really great poem.
As you may have seen the blog has a strong (and originally unintended) arts theme running throughout. It is now our intention to respond to this through helping wherever we can, in whatever small way, with the preservation and restoration of Ukrainian arts and those who promote it.
To this end we are promoting the publication of a book of poems and writing in support of Ukraine called 'Sunflowers for Ukraine' being published by a publishing house in your own town, 'Bryn Stowe Publications' (See 'Today's Letters' in a previous post from that company).
When we have been sent a copy we will publish further details here. We understand the funds so raised by the sale of the book will all go to this cause.
Thank you again and our good wishes to you all at the Scarborough Poetry Workshop. We are very honoured indeed to number you amongst our correspondents and I have added a brief note below for the benefit of our readers.
Hoggy
(Felix Hodcroft is a leading poet and writer based at the Scarborough Poetry Workshop in the North East of the UK and is the author of several books including; 'Life after Life after Death' and 'Lives of Lilo'. He is also the editor of an anthology of poetry 'A Pocketful of Windows'. For more powerful insights by Felix please go to: www.felixhodcroftpoet.com)
More letters tomorrow. Please keep reading and writing in! Thank you to you all. Hoggy
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