Photograph by Sergei Ilnitsky, with this note: Damaged goods lie in a damaged kitchen in downtown Donetsk, Ukraine, 26 August 2014. Residential areas in several districts of Donetsk, including the central part of the city, suffered from artillery fire, three people [were] killed and 10 wounded, the press centre of Donetsk city Council reported. Retrieved from www.ilnitsky-photography.com.
She had planned to offer peaches with the tea.
August was warm; the fruit had ripened to perfection.
She’d placed two paring knives on the cutting board,
set out the teapot with nasturtiums painted on the side.
Two cups. A shard from the cup that shattered
nestles inside the bowl of fruit.
And the lace curtain, stained the color of nasturtiums or ripe peaches––
First published online by Split This Rock and then in Travel Notes from
the River Styx (available from Terrapin Books and from Amazon).