Reflections on Ukraine at the Start of the War

Way back in 2022 I had the honour of collaborating with a great team at Culture Amp in an on line version of my conference #leadershipfromtheheart. The event spanned time zones from Australia to North America and we raised close to $40k to support Ukrainian refugees.

I also got to moderate a panel and also perform one of my longer spoken word pieces abut the conflict with Russia - Liquid War.

Today I want to share a piece I wrote at the very beginning of the war. You may remember that iconic moment when President Zelensky was offered the opportunity to leave Ukraine as Russian troops advanced on Kiev. His emphatic answer was simple and direct - "I don't need a ride, I need bullets".

His courage inspired this piece. I'm revisiting it now as with a change of government in the US, Ukraine's future becomes uncertain......We should all be reminded of this man's courage and that of an entire nation that has endured so much....

“I don’t need a ride”

Said the man who refused to hide

From invaders advancing all around

Vowing now to stand his ground

When they come to count the leaders of our time

One Volodymyr Zelensky will be front of line

As the sky burned above his beloved Kyiv

He was steadfast - refused to leave

And with the streets filled with Russian tanks

He took up arms not seeking thanks

He saw clearly what others didn’t see

A leader makes a stand against tyranny

Thus transforming tragedy

So when the history of these days we write

One name will shine with special light

And one nation will stand proud

That with one voice proclaimed out loud

“to a bully we will not be bowed”

?

For this war is senseless on one side

Fed by greed, anger, and hurt pride

But on the other side stands right

That overcomes the fear of night

As bombs and rockets rain from on high

A homeland just a prize in the bully’s eye

Twas ever thus since the beginning of time

But a leader once a clown, from pantomime

Arises to set right this crime.

?

A million refugees have fled this war

I’m sure we will soon see one million more

As the tyrant, angry at being exposed

Not expecting to be opposed

Shamed by the contrast of their humanity

To his repeated cruel brutality

He doubles down without remorse

Ever onward not changing course

This leopard cannot change his spots

While the resistance ties his force in knots.

?

Images of carnage fill my screen

Something that has not been seen

In Europe for so many years

A continent bathed in tears

And blood and dreams

Destroyed by this worst of regimes

Memories of 1939

How then will it ends this time

?

With words and actions he inspired a nation

That many felt faced certain damnation

Proclaiming that regardless of duration

They’d fight on until the celebration

Of their victory was real not just an aspiration

?

?

Here is the man who faced down the bear

The man Putin believed that he could scare

But then he was of course unaware

That the heart of leadership is to care

?

“I don’t need a ride” is what he said

Give me bullets then instead.

#leadership #courage #spokenword #poetry