Vladimir Putin believes he’s exalted —
His rebuild of Empire cannot be halted.
He started out slowly — Abkhazia, Ossetia,
Small, unknown places, like little Transnistria.
He bit off Crimea and eastern Ukraine;
Then his ambition became very plain.
Though he started out slowly, one slice at a time,
Now NATO is building a “Maginot line!”
His bombing in Ukraine is terror of course.
Killing innocents is the approach he endorses.
He squashes opponents — at home and abroad,
Apparatchiks in Moscow just smile and applaud.
He’s a relic of Empire — an Empire fallen.
He’s a KGB thug and a wannabe Stalin.
He arrests those who anti-war sentiments say;
Assassinates those who may get in his way.
This devious, poisonous, treacherous Nero
Murdered an icon, a genuine hero.
He poisoned Navalny, next he’ll go for his wife.
That’s Vladimir Putin, Dictator for Life.
Carolyn McGiffert Ekedahl is the former deputy inspector general for inspections at the Central Intelligence Agency and co-author of “The Wars of Eduard Shevardnadze.”
