From every family.
From every household.
There were people present.
In the tiny village of Hroza.
A missile attack killed.
52 people on Thursday.
People from every family.
In the tiny village of Hroza.
An eight-year-old boy.
Was among the victims.
When a cafe was hit.
During a wake.
From every family.
From every household.
There were people present.
In the tiny village of Hroza.
Residents of the Hroza village.
Had been attending the funeral.
Of an ‘elf’ soldier.
Who was a local resident.
The man’s widow.
Was among the dead.
As well as their son.
And daughter-in-law.
From every family.
From every household.
There were people present.
In the tiny village of Hroza.
The soldier had previously been.
Buried in Dnipro.
But his relatives wanted to.
Rebury him in his home village.
People who had attended the service.
Were sitting down for a meal.
When the missile hit the cafe that also.
Served as a grocery store in the village.
From every family.
From every household.
There were people present.
In the tiny village of Hroza.
Every family, every household.
Was represented by.
At least one person.
At the wake.
The tiny village of Hroza.
Had had the population.
Of 330 residents.
Before the orcs attack.
From every family.
From every household.
There were people present.
In the tiny village of Hroza.
The cafe and grocery store.
Are somehow still standing.
Different wallpaper patterns show.
How most of the building has disappeared.
Latex gloves.
Used by medical teams.
Litter the adjacent playground.
Where most of the bodies were recovered.
From every family.
From every household.
There were people present.
In the tiny village of Hroza.
Blood stains are still.
Visible in the soil.
Eerily, the swings.
And slide are still there.
A covered body lies next to.
A collection of candles on a tractor tyre.
A memorial to the 52 lives.
Taken in an instant yesterday.
From every family.
From every household.
There were people present.
In the tiny village of Hroza.
His wife was at the funeral wake.
He doesn’t know what’s happened to her.
He was out at work.
At the same time.
“We can’t find her.
We haven’t seen her dead.
We haven’t seen her alive.
We just don’t know what to do.”
From every family.
From every household.
There were people present.
In the tiny village of Hroza.
His wife’s father went to the police station.
To give a DNA sample.
In the hope she might.
At least be identified.
The prosecutor is keen to show the phone footage.
He captured when he first arrived yesterday.
It is pretty hard to watch.
But “people need to see” he said.
From every family.
From every household.
There were people present.
In the tiny village of Hroza.
*Because I read “Russian airstrike kills 51 at a funeral in Ukraine” by Antoinette Radford on 5 Oct 2023, “Ukraine war: Drone footage shows devastation in Hroza”, “Ukraine war: Blood stains visible in the soil as village of Hroza mourns” by James Waterhouse and “Ukraine war: Every family in Hroza village affected by missile attack” by Christy Cooney on 6 Oct 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 including a story of Andriy.
Please read the original stories on the BBC news:
Ukraine war: Every family in Hroza village affected by missile attack – BBC News
Ukraine war: Blood stains visible in the soil as village of Hroza mourns – BBC News
Ukraine war: Drone footage shows devastation in Hroza – BBC News
Russian airstrike kills 51 at a funeral in Ukraine – BBC News
**My friend shows you this poem on the Ukrainian website for their children and others!
Please join them!
