On February 24, 2022, actress AnnaLynne McCord recorded herself reciting an original poem. The poem directly called to Vladimir Putin and was written from the perspective of if she was his mother.
“Dear Mister President Vladimir Putin,” McCord’s poem began. “I’m so sorry I was not your mother.”
As the poem continues, McCord eludes to the idea that if she was Putin’s mother, he would have received enough love and affection that it would have deterred him from ever becoming the dictator he is today. “If I was your mother, you would have been so loved. Held in the arms of joyous light. Never would this story’s plight,” it continued.
You can listen to McCord’s full poem below:
The unique reaction to Russia invading Ukraine understandable got a lot of people talking. It was likely not the reaction McCord thought her poem would attract.
Shock, awe, confusion, and the term “tone deaf” are just a few words used to describe many of the reactions people had to McCord’s poetry. Now, McCord is speaking with BuzzFeed about the backlash.
In her statement, the actress went as far as to, dare we say, identify with Putin becoming a dictator.
“I know how I could easily have moved in the direction of becoming a dictator myself,” the actress explained to BuzzFeed News when she was asked about why she wrote the poem. “If certain circumstances of my life were different, were I a little less bent toward healing and more toward vindication, I could have been a darkly powerful person.”
It’s unclear exactly what the actress is referring to, but McCord has been open about the past trauma she experienced as a child which continued into her teen years. She has also opened up about how she sought treatment and continues to use meditation techniques as a way to cope.
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McCord further told BuzzFeed News that she woke up “in anguish” over “the children of the war,” and hopes the poem may help as she asked Putin to think about the children who may grow up parentless and angry as a result of his actions. So far her poem has more than 24 million views.
The poem was made public in the hours after Russia first invaded Ukraine. What has transpired over the last several days has been violent with innocent Ukrainians losing their lives.
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