Witnessing Ukraine

I am bearing witness Ukraine – please take it in, transform and heal Mother Earth, Gaia and
all the wonders of life

Preludio
Mother, six years old
Survived the bombing and occupation of Vienna, 1945
Father, 11 years old
Displaced after World War II.
No more home – never
If you can choose, why do you want to travel?
What is passed down from generation to generation?

Kyiv
under blue, blue sky
golden domes, stars and crosses sparkling in the sunlight.
Busy city – traffic – sitting in café
Walkers on the move
Young adults eating pizza with a view on the river
Blue, blue sky – no airplane, no contrails
and still

Air raid alarm
Proceed to shelter
Who shelters where? Around the clock?
4 floors underground
Woman embraces cat
Parents hug children
Most foreigners like us
Most Ukrainians do not go to shelter, 2 walls neither
Resistance against fear, against threat
Not obeying to alarm
Still
Sirens wail
No sleep

Walking under moon and stars
Remember
Faces, names, places,
dates – the ages of my sons and younger even
Don’t forget those who lost their lives in defense of their country
Who started the war? Who is the defender?
Violence provokes violence
Walk and watch – take it in, don’t look away
Walk and pray
Stop, breath and remember – this is happening to you, to us

Bring an object with you which represents the best of you and gives you comfort:
Perfume – for the realm of smell
My favorite music, earplugs – for the realm of hearing
My pet (a real little dog) – embracing, absorbing all my pain, I care for you, you love me.
Tourniquet – survival, stops the bleeding of the wounded – in my homeland – occupied, contested
Candies – for the realm of taste

My cell phone – Telegram, WhatsApp, Signal…
UAV in Kharkiv region, heading south
Are you well? My friends? My family?
90 enemy drones shot down/suppressed
Hold the sky
What happened?
Where have you gone?
Need help?
Threat of use of aviation strike means for frontline areas
Continues
Day-and-night
24 hours
7 days
3 years and more
Read and pray, take it in
Stop, breath and pray

Interludio
Ukraine, Europe’s breadbasket
Holodomor
Discreet, seemingly on the edge of the square.
And yet,
3-7 million Ukrainians starved to death.
Genocide back then.
Friendship with the perpetrators?
Occupation?
Broken Friendship
Ukraine, the breadbasket of Europe
War – occupied, contested, blocked
Hunger going to Africa

Majdan
What have you witnessed?
Orange revolution, Euromaidan…
Peaceful, violent – protests
Freedom, rights
What can you hold?

Flags, pictures, candles, flowers
Each a loss, each a suffering, a never coming home again
This happens now
Prayers, tears, wishes – I love Ukraine
When will the suffering end?

Monastery – full of candles
Wishes, prayers, healing is possible
Do the candles burn in Russia, too?
What is the suffering of the perpetrators?
How will we understand it, hold it and heal it?
The candle lights continue lightening the way
Up to the sky

9:00 am Attention!
Moment of silence!!
Stop and honor the memory of those who died as a result of the Russian attack on Ukraine.
Stop, breathe and take it in
Remember those
who resist war, who resist violence,
who show compassion
no matter where they are
no matter who they are

Crimean Tatar restaurant
Go there
11 years – Freedom in exile
Remember
My food – your solidarity
My clothes – I remember, you remind me
Alive still
I see you
What about those who stayed?
What about those who love Russia?
What about Russians?
Taste, smell and pray, take it in
Stop, breathe and pray

Orphanage
Little boy in stillness
Waiting
Little girl crying underground
When the sirens weil
Father mutilated with 2years’ little son – waiting for recovery
Will family members be found?
In the meantime been taken care of
Will the war end and if, what then?
How will healing look like?

Attention – air raid alarm – proceed to shelter
Metro – underground station
Old lady – learned German in her youth
Time passed by
ask ai for help – one sentence each
Dreaming
When the war ends
Music, Mozart, Salzburg, Vienna
Poetry

Air-born war – disease – faceless, nameless enemies
Sky war – Cyberwar
Hunting, hurting civilians with drones
Who reminds the invisibles? Who holds them accountable?
Don’t look into my eyes!
What is your suffering?
Watch and pray. Take it all in.
Stop, breathe and pray.

Kyiv is waiting for you after the victory
David’s sense of humor
Whose victory will it be?
Will there be a winner and a loser?
What did they tell you whose war it was?
How will healing look like?
After all

Da capo
German Soldiers at Polish boarder – airport
Flag gun – a large tent
Boredom
Defend the airspace
Our airspace
Where does it begin? Where does it end?
Borders protect
Borders exclude
Endless sky
How was your trip?
I relived my experience back then in 1945
I still feel it, smell it
It frightens me

Daniela Simm, Mindful Spring of the Heart
October, 2025

Daniela Simm, Mindful Spring of the Heart (pronouns she/her), started her engagement with social
and Earth justice in the area of agroecology and rural development alongside rural and indigenous
communities and movements in Latin America, as well as humanitarian assistance since 2007.
Rooted in Catholic theology of liberation, she embraced the Plum Village tradition in 2018.
Dharanimdhara, the bodhisattva of Earth holding, is her motivation: building bridges and weaving
networks of understanding, compassion, love, and trust between all peoples and beings on this
precious Mother Earth. Earth Holder Berlin and Abrazadores de la Tierra Int’l CTC.

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