A new crop of poems and images from Audrey Ardern-Jones drops into The Hub's in box. This time on a subject, no doubt, we are all struggling with in our different ways.

The war in Ukraine with its senseless loss of life, displaced refugees, and destroyed communities has been a tough watch. As Audrey says, the scenes recall past invasions by Soviet troops on European soil we hoped we would never see again. The Warsaw Pact invasions of Hungary in 1956 and Czechoslovakia in 1968.

As a poet Audrey naturally turns to verse to reflect this sad moment. White Roses (for my mother) is a deeply personal account of Audrey's Polish Lwów-born mother's traumatic response to family loss, sudden displacement and refugee flight to a new life in England caused by the Second World War. Lwów is now a city called Lviv in western Ukraine. The city was struck by Russian missiles on Easter Monday, 2022.

I Will Live and Survive is a poem by Ukrainian poet Irina Ratuskinskaya who was sentenced to seven years hard labour by the Soviet regime in the 80s merely for writing poetry. Testament is statement of nationalist pride by nineteenth century Ukrainian poet, Taras Shevchenko. His literary heritage is regarded as "the foundation of modern Ukrainian literature and, to a large extent, the modern Ukrainian language".

Christ of St John of the Cross by Salvador Dali: A Reflection

Poet's Corner with Audrey Ardern-JonesBy Baron Armah-KwantrengMar 16, 2022