J Diego Frey

This is a gripping story that begins in February 2022, when the author and his family shared the fate of millions of Ukrainian refugees driven out of their cities and villages by the Russian invasion. Over a year later, the intense panic of the first weeks and months has subsided, and the author is able to convey the story through a clearer lens. This is not a hate-filled recounting of their experiences--despite ongoing attacks. Instead, it focuses on the moments of love, friendship, unity, courage, and faith that Ukrainians experienced since the onset of the war. While war can be experienced as an out-of-control fire, it can also bring forward the healing warmth of kinship.

J Diego Frey is a product of suburban Colorado in the nineteen-seventies and an admirer of cheeseburgers. His poetry follows naturally from this. "Umbrellas or Else" is JD's first collection of poems. The title of the book was suggested to the poet by his father long before any of these poems were written, but somehow, it fits.