POETS IN VINNYTSIA

It was a beautiful sunny day.

And she was smiling.

Pushing her pink chair.

In front of her.

 

Her pink pushchair lies on its side.

Smeared with blood on a strip of grass.

Outside the ruins of the Jubilee building.

On 14 July.

 

The four-year-old was killed.

On Thursday.

When ‘orcs’ missiles hit Victory Square.

The centre of Vinnytsia.

 

Shortly before the missiles struck.

Her mother had posted a video online.

She and her mother chatted about.

Heading to see her speech therapist.

 

Her mother’s Instagram account is.

Filled with pictures of the girl’s life.

Which she began posting.

Soon after her only child was born.

 

The first one announces:

“Meet my little angel”.

The LogoClub she went to is.

Just a block from Victory Square.

 

The LogoClub centre is for special needs.

Where she had attended a session.

That morning as she did most days.

Her mother was seriously injured in the attack.

 

The staff had taken all the children.

Down to the shelter.

When the air raid siren sounded.

But she and her mother were still out in the street.

 

When the war began.

They’d returned to Vinnytsia.

From Kyiv for safety.

Because it was far from the front lines.

 

According to who runs the LogoClub:

Her mother worshipped her.

And was very open about the fact.

She had Down’s syndrome.

 

Her mother wanted people to know.

It was nothing to be ashamed of.

“That such children are no different from us.

They’re very sweet and kind.”

 

With her voice cracking.

“She was very cheerful.

She loved coming to us.

She was a very kind child for her mother.”

 

“She was the whole meaning of her mother’s life.

Her mother loved her madly.

I can’t even imagine.

What a tragedy it is for the family.”

 

“It is horrifying.

Children shouldn’t suffer and die.

Nor should their mothers.”

“It is a terrible tragedy.”

 

“I don’t know if her mother knows about her yet.

Whether her family told her or not.

As a mother myself, I don’t know how it’s possible.

To give someone such news.”

 

It was a beautiful sunny day.

And she was smiling.

Pushing her pink chair.

In front of her.

 

 

*Because I read “Ukraine war: Four-year-old Liza killed by Russian attack on Vinnytsia” by Sarah Rainsford, Eastern Europe correspondent, Vinnytsia on 15 July 2022, on the BBC News, 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 Liza, her mother Iryna and their family, and Valeriia.
Please read the original story on the BBC news:

Ukraine war: Four-year-old Liza killed by Russian attack on Vinnytsia – BBC News

 

**My friend shows you this poem also on the Ukrainian website for their children and others!

Kurama (Japan). «​Poets in Vinnytsia» — a poem about the russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 – Мала Сторінка (storinka.org)

Please join them!