waterloo?

The glorious adventure Dugin sold
to prove autocracies are always best
collapsed, confronting hunger, thirst, and cold,
contending with this step-son of the West.
Assured Zelensky'd lose his shit and flee
confronted with massed military might
Vlad Putin's stymied by the brave and free;
Ukrainians spearhead the whole world's fight.
The Finns, the Czechs, the Afghans... know full well
how best to make their occupiers squirm.
As life for non-combatants goes to Hell
Ukrainians are unified, and firm.
Let Putin starve for anyone to trust;
His barbarism's looking like a bust.

History doesn't repeat, but it rhymes

Ukrainians defy the latest czar
to think the ruthless get to rule the world.
Misunderstanding who these people are;
their blue and yellow banner streams, unfurled.
A charismatic president who'll fight
when Dugin swore he'd hasten to retreat
inspires discussion of ultimate right
and if the Kremlin's facing a defeat.
Like Spanish communists, four lifetimes back
this anti-fascist fight draws volunteers
who see the global threat in this attack
on all that our democracies hold dear.
Reprising blunders empires made before,
now, Putin stands to lose more than a war.

the deaths of empires

Potempkin army, bogged down in the mud,
presents a turkey-shoot for Lend/Lease planes.
To supplement indigenous red blood,
the West's been swift to rally 'round Ukraine.
The facile victory that Putin craved
to pump his mythos up in Russians' eyes,
was just a phantom conjured in his cave,
among the close cabal who draft his lies.
Already, Moscow mothers want to know
why darlingVanya lies so wan and still.
If there's to be a fight, she knows the foe
sits at his desk, commanding those who kill.
The Staatsbund Kant had hoped would end all war
looks urgent like it rarely has before.