Guest Poem by Lori Drummond-Mundal

Lori Drummond-Mundal lives in Stavanger, having made the move 150 degrees east from her roots in Alaska 30 years ago. Her poetry has appeared in Acumen, Orbis, Dawntreader, and Despite Knowing - an anthology of poems on addiction edited by Veronica Aaronson (Fore Street Press, 2021).

Rooks Over Mariupol

Rooks raise a complaint, but cannot erase
the blinding mist.

I live in the mist of a distant land.
The sun is veiled yet I know it exists.

Raucous rooks tear from branch tips,
black into squall.

Tempest of wings rip at seams,
imagined and real.

This is the grief, storm in the flesh
of the forsaken.