Ways to Help
Following the Russian invasion on February 24th, over two million refugees have fled Ukraine, approximately half of them children. A recent article in the Washington Post (“Here’s How Americans Can Donate to Help People in Ukraine,” February 27) provides links to several helping organizations, including Voices of Children and Save the Children (www.washingtonpost.com). Below are addresses for some other organizations that have dedicated their efforts to helping refugees displaced by this war, including UNICEF:
Poem Goes Viral
Ukranian American poet Illya Kaminsky’s poem, “We Lived Happily Through the War,” went semi-viral after the invasion. In an article in the New York Times (March 3), poet Victoria Chang introduces the poem, which originally appeared in Kaminsky’s volume, Deaf Republic (a NYTs Notable Book). The theme is complacency during a time of war. Born in Odessa, the author emigrated to the U.S. with his family in 1993. He speaks at greater length about his work in an interview with Dan Kois (Slate, March 4).
Auden’s 1939 Meditation
W.H. Auden’s poem, “Crisis” first appeared in the Atlantic magazine in 1939, on the same day the German army invaded Poland. It’s been described by the Atlantic as “a meditation on the creeping horror of fascism and the dread of invasion,” and “an unofficial prologue to Auden’s famous poem on the beginning of the war, “September 1, 1939.” He continued to revise the latter work over the years, never content with the final line. Yet that line, “We must love one another or die,” continues to resonate.
Teach This Poem
The Academy of American Poets offers lesson plans for teaching Kaminsky’s poem, as well as for those by Auden and others. Activities include reading, writing, speaking and listening, with suggestions for remote and blended learning. See “Teach This Poem,” www.poets.org. Biographies and poems of more than 3,000 poets can be found on the website.
Poetry Peace Award
The annual Barbara Mandigo Kelly Poetry Peace Award contest is accepting entries until July 1, 2022, and is open in three categories: for adults, youth, and youth under twelve. First prize is $1,000 and publication. For more details, see www.peacecontest.org.
Jerome Gagnon Blog 