She sits tall, neck craned,
blue and yellow flag out of view.
Husband and sons gone.
Neighborhoods reduced to rubble.

Paint me on this dismal morning
in my black mourning.
Paint my sorrow,
my horror, my disbelief.

Joyful colors obliterated.
No emerald greens,
brilliant purples
or rich chestnut browns.

Abandoned by you, your government.
Ceded for whatever reason
to that Russian tyrant.
I am the widow of Ukraine.

My visage shall haunt you
until the day you die.

Written for dVerse, the virtual pub for poets around the globe where I’m hosting October 22nd’s Open Link Night. Folks are free to post one poem of their choosing OR they may write a poem that includes mention of at least three colors.

I’ve combined my optional prompt with Melissa’s prompt from Tuesday Poetics: write a poem inspired by one of three “haunting” paintings she provided.

The real haunting and haunted story behind Svetlana Telets, Rain Woman (1996).
Telets is a Ukrainan artist. Telets claimed that for months leading up to her painting, she felt an invisible presence watching her constantly. She claims to have felt an invisible force guide her hand llike a puppeteer while creating it. Telets’ painting was displayed in a local gallery in Ukraine, where it was purchased and returned multiple times by buyers who reported the painting caused them to experience insomnia, nightmares, and an eery sensation of being watched. Some even claimed that a shadowy figure followed them through their homes.