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Tuesday, 19 August 2025

Angelica Shalagina: a voice from the Donbas

 Putin doesn’t talk.

He bombs. During negotiations - he bombs. After negotiations - he bombs. That is his only language. Terror instead of words. Explosions instead of diplomacy. And yet the world still sits at tables. Still poses for photographs. Still pretends there is something to discuss. But we in Ukraine know the truth. We live the truth. Every night. Every morning. Every funeral.

(Angelica reguarly posts her poems on X (formerly Twitter)

Friday, 15 August 2025

Ahriman, by Peter Shilston

 Ahriman, Lord of Midnight, 

pours darkness on the earth.

From his throne on the Black Sun, 

amidst the Radiant Cold

he sends oracles, saying, face facts,

nothing makes sense anymore, does it?

The human dilemma has no solution,

the end of the universe is Absolute Zero, 

and as for you: you can do npthing, 

you're on your own

nobody loves you.

 

But Ahramazda replies, Don't despair

don't be taken in

don't listen to this oxymoron

the sun's still shining

and look: it isn't black!


(The idea here is taken from the ancient Persian religion of Zoroastrianism, which saw the world as the scene of a titanic battle between the forces of light and the forces of darkness, personnified by the competing deities of Ahuramazda and Ahriman.