Georgian Graffiti

by John Short

On walls in Georgia
there are anti-Russian slogans
not everyone embraces
but it’s reasonable to suppose
there is no love lost here.

Some bars in Tbilisi require
Russians to sign a form
denouncing Putin as criminal
before their entrance.

In Gori, birthplace of Stalin
there are museum photos
of bodies in the street
during the 2008 conflict.

Now you see the people,
wrapped up for winter
with their toddlers in parks:
how folk recover from horror
and re-establish normality.

Popular support for Ukraine,
as could be expected,
because they too have known
the reality of missiles.