In Lviv a woman pauses at a piano
abandoned on the pavement.
In the afternoon’s ceasefire
she plays It’s a Wonderful Life.
Beneath Kyiv’s ravaged streets
families gather in bunkers,
huddled in coats and blankets.
A young girl sings Let It Go!
On the square in Odessa soldiers
press frozen lips to tuba,
to trumpet, horn and trombone.
Don’t Worry, Be Happy, they implore.
Across unmapped airwaves,
we listen to their songs of hope,
to the music of resistance.
We hear you, we say. We hear you.
Angi Holden