Irpin is on the doorstep of Kyiv.
A haven for families before the war.
In a red coat for four weeks.
In a street of the leafy town.
Lying where she’d been trampled once.
Under the wheels of ‘orcs’ armoured vehicles.
In a red coat for four weeks.
Not once but over and over again.
From her hands, she seemed very young.
A handwritten shopping list in her purse.
An older man’s body on the other side of the street.
From his age, he could have been her dad.
Irpin is on the doorstep of Kyiv.
A haven for families before the war.
“I heard shots in the middle of March.
Beneath the windows of my flat.”
“Every morning for over two weeks.
I came to my window to check if.”
“Then every time I looked from my window.
After shelling I saw her again.”
“I knew nothing about her.
But my heart was broken.”
In a building on Pushkinska St.
There was nothing she could do.
Rather than leave her home again.
She decided to stay where she was.
She’d fled her home in eastern Ukraine.
When war broke out in 2014.
Irpin is on the doorstep of Kyiv.
A haven for families before the war.
“I never thought I would live.”
A young territorial defence recruit.
“On our third day we heard a whistle.
And ‘orcs’ started to bomb us directly.
We sat in the basement and the ceiling started to crumble.
We were pretty scared.”
“It’s still not safe here, but in due time we’ll rebuild.
Probably it will take years.”
“I’m trying not to think about the fact.
Every house destroyed was built by someone.”
“I’m trying not to think about the fact.
Sometimes it was built with their own hands.”
“I hate ‘orcs’ from the depths of my heart.
There are no excuses for this.”
Irpin is on the doorstep of Kyiv.
A haven for families before the war.
*Because I read “Irpin: Russia’s reign of terror in a quiet neighbourhood near Kyiv” by Zhanna Bezpiatchuk, Irpin on 8 June 2022, “Battle for Irpin: Russian forces pushed out of Kyiv suburb” by Orla Guerin, Irpin on 1 April 2022, and also “Why are Ukrainians calling Russians ‘orcs’?” by James FitzGerald on 30 April 2022, on the BBC news.
So, I wrote this poem as a story of a woman in a red coat, a story of Ludmila, and a story of Ivan.
Please read the original story on the BBC news:
Irpin: Russia’s reign of terror in a quiet neighbourhood near Kyiv – BBC News
Battle for Irpin: Russian forces pushed out of Kyiv suburb – BBC News
**My friend shows you this poem also on the Ukrainian website for their children and others!
Please join them!
And please watch the videos about Irpin before and after the war on the page.
