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EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION
This is a powerful and really moving poem with super imagery. I'm sure that Elisa was inspired by the war in Ukraine as so many poets have been - that is not to detract from the brilliant way Elisa has written 'The Soldier'. It is simple, it is uncomplicated, yet is very much on point. I think it is so worthy of accolade.
The Soldier - by Elisa Wei

comes at dusk
with hope on his sleeves and regret in his footsteps
a bouquet of late summer in an anxious fist

he makes his way across the familiar field
where oaks loom large and a red barn sits empty
the smell of old milk and the buzz of abandoned hives
await him, where a woman waits

she knows he grinds his teeth at night
she knows he mourns the loss of his hair
she knows he remembers her name

he is sorry for the delay, the train, he explains
the bombing of the capital
the sound of blood-stained rain, a refrain he mumbles
half in shame, half in unbridled fury

so she takes him in her arms, offers him a shot
of cooled horilka, sweetened slightly
to dull his unimaginable pain



© Elisa Wei 2023