Chernobylnik

I am remembering

How Chernobyl (Ukrainian Chornobyl)

Was named for Chernobylnik,

Or Artemisia vulgaris

And means

“The place where Mugwort grows”

I am thinking

Of the Babusi

Who returned to their homes

After the disaster

Despite the warnings

And the laws

Because, as they said

“If you leave, you die.

Motherland is motherland.”

I am hoping

As I stand by my own front door

Surrounded by the mugwort I planted

8 years ago

And which has since established itself

As guardian and friend

That while they prepare their

Molotov cocktails

The people of Ukraine

Are igniting that same tenacity

In their souls for the days to come

And I am holding

A prayer

That just like in the epic

Yevshan-zillya

The heroes

When they encounter

The scent of wormwood

Will remember the way

They are claimed by the land

And know their identity

Will never be separate from it