4a. Accordion Card: “Ode to Joy & Freedom for Ukraine”

A Semigloss, 8 sided accordion card, 2 sides printed with my original poem, 2 sides sides featuring a wide shot of a honey bee in a sunflower, and 4 unprinted sides for writing on, and accompanied by a free coordinating white envelope.

The flowers featured in this card are sunflowers, from seeds planted by birds that I fed in the winter and spring, and that I grew in pots in my “Garden in the Sky,” on my balcony, in Downtown Montpelier, Vermont, summer of 2021. The following year, 2022, these sunflowers would grow to symbolize the enduring strength of the Ukrainian people, as they continue to fight for their land and sovereignty against Russia. I wrote this poem, inspired both by the Ukrainian people, and by my very favorite piece of music, which symbolizes finding joy evening in the darkest of times, Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy,” which is the song of Europe, and was performed for and by the people of Ukraine at the beginning of this horrific struggle that never should have been.

A portion from every sale of this card will be donated to World Central Kitchen for the Ukrainian People. The poem featured on this card is printed below.