A POET DREAMING

It was in early September last year.

During Ukraine’s grinding counter-offensive.

In the southern Kherson region.

That his war ended abruptly.

 

The soldier’s tank drove.

Over a mine as it headed into combat.

When the 30-year-old regained consciousness.

He was surrounded by fire.

 

“You are not thinking about.

What you need to do.

You do it because.

You want to live.”

 

 

He survived because.

He was able to crawl out.

And be evacuated.

By his comrades.

 

He has since had several operations.

And skin transplants for his burns.

And his right leg had to be amputated.

Below the knee.

 

 

“You are not thinking about.

What you need to do.

You do it because.

You want to live.”

 

 

Six months later.

He still contemplates.

His life-changing injuries.

“I had both disappointments and hope.”

 

“The hardest stage of my treatment.

Is behind me.

I dream about.

Walking soon.”

 

 

“You are not thinking about.

What you need to do.

You do it because.

You want to live.”

 

 

Before the war.

He was an estate agent.

From Vinnytsya.

In central Ukraine.

 

Before the war.

He was a keen runner.

He finished a marathon in 2021.

And planned to compete in more.

 

 

“You are not thinking about.

What you need to do.

You do it because.

You want to live.”

 

 

He signed up to fight.

Just days after ‘Mordor’ launched.

Its full-scale invasion.

In February last year.

 

“You should not underestimate yourself.

But also you should not pity yourself.

Everything is still ahead of me.

I’m alive and healthy.”

 

 

“You are not thinking about.

What you need to do.

You do it because.

You want to live.”

 

 

“It’s not the end.”

He is one of 11,000 patients.

Who’ve been treated at the Unbroken.

National Rehabilitation Centre so far.

 

Lviv’s general hospital is one of.

244 across Ukraine.

Which take in injured soldiers and civilians.

Treating them for physical and psychological wounds.

 

 

“You are not thinking about.

What you need to do.

You do it because.

You want to live.”

 

 

Men in military uniforms.

Mix with members of the public.

Subtle hints that.

These aren’t normal times.

 

The deeper you go into the building.

The more pronounced those clues become.

Mostly young men fill the corridors.

The majority are missing limbs.

 

 

*Because I read “Ukraine war: The cost and scale of rehabilitating the wounded” by James Waterhouse on 7 Mar 2023, and also “Why are Ukrainians calling Russians ‘orcs’?” by James FitzGerald on 30 Apr 2022, on the BBC news.
So, I wrote this poem as a story of Illya.
Please read the original story on the BBC news:

Ukraine war: The cost and scale of rehabilitating the wounded – BBC News

 

 

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

Kurama (Japan). «A poet dreaming​​», «A poet returning» — two poems about the rehabilitation of Ukrainian wounded (war in Ukraine 2022) – Мала Сторінка (storinka.org)

Please join them!