Shevchenko's Spirit Poem by Margaret O Driscoll

High rise flats, high rise birches
Obscuring, softening the scale,
Yellow tulip buds in elastic bands
Babushkas hoping for a sale.
Trolleybus cable wires high above
Flowering horse chestnut trees,
The sweet scent of cherry blossoms
Drifting in the breeze.
A statue of Shevchenko
I feel his spirit in the air,
The plinth that held Lenin's statue
Toppled in Soborna Square.
A memorial to Korolev
Rockets by the museum,
Blue and yellow flags flutter
For the nationalists dream,
Lime trees invite honey bees
Beneath St.Michael's dome,
The hospitality of Ukrainians
Makes me feel at home.