A Farewell to Arms

(Draft-age Russian male version)

A Ukrainian soldier in Kupiansk, a recaptured frontline city in the Kharkiv region.(Yasuyoshi Chiba / AFP via Getty Images)

“Google searches for ‘how to break an arm at home’ surged after President Vladimir Putin announced a partial mobilization.”—Newsweek

The border’s clogged, but, still, I’ve got To skip this war and not get shot. I’ll break an arm, so I can’t shoot. And better yet: I can’t salute.

Calvin TrillinCalvin Trillin is The Nation’s “deadline poet.”