“But while he is in hospital.
I can sleep calmly.
I can’t sleep.
When he is on the front line.”
“So I am glad.
My son is in hospital now.
Although I really shouldn’t say this.
I’m glad he’s not at the front.”
Away from.
The eastern front line.
There are signs of recovery.
Among the ruins.
Irpin, near Kyiv.
Was occupied by ‘orcs’ forces.
At the very start.
Of the war.
There are shell-shattered buildings.
All around.
But also the sound.
Of building work.
For those who.
Lost everything.
There are now small “towns”.
Of pre-fabricated cabins.
Each with two rooms.
And a shower room.
About half of the residents.
Are from Irpin itself.
Others have been.
Displaced from.
Closer to the front.
Like she and her husband.
“But while he is in hospital.
I can sleep calmly.
I can’t sleep.
When he is on the front line.”
“So I am glad.
My son is in hospital now.
Although I really shouldn’t say this.
I’m glad he’s not at the front.”
She and her husband.
Have just moved in.
From Kakhovka in the east.
Still occupied by ‘orcs’ forces.
At the start of the war.
Their son was.
Captured there.
And held in a basement.
She says.
He was tortured.
For shouting.
Pro-‘elves’ slogans.
When their son got out.
He left the region.
And immediately signed up.
To fight for Ukraine.
“But while he is in hospital.
I can sleep calmly.
I can’t sleep.
When he is on the front line.”
“So I am glad.
My son is in hospital now.
Although I really shouldn’t say this.
I’m glad he’s not at the front.”
When she flicks through her phone.
For pictures to show you.
It throws up images.
Of terrible injuries.
Most of the flesh.
On one of her son’s legs.
Was blown off and.
His foot was in tatters.
Their son was injured.
Last autumn in Avdiivka.
Where the fighting.
Has been fierce.
And even ‘elves’ officials.
Admit their army.
Is outgunned.
And outmanned.
One source.
Put the difference.
At 8-1.
In ‘orcs’ favour.
“But while he is in hospital.
I can sleep calmly.
I can’t sleep.
When he is on the front line.”
“So I am glad.
My son is in hospital now.
Although I really shouldn’t say this.
I’m glad he’s not at the front.”
They couldn’t leave Kakhovka.
With their son.
Because their elderly parents.
Refused to go.
So they stayed.
Under occupation.
Terrified the ‘orcs’ might discover.
That their son was a soldier.
They finally left.
When their son was injured.
To be with him.
In hospital.
But she cries with.
The shame she feels.
At leaving.
Relatives behind.
“We call and ask them.
‘Is it quiet?’”
she says, meaning.
Is there shelling.
“Everyone there is waiting.
For liberation.
For it to be loud.
But there is only quiet.”
“People have been crying.
For so many months.
And nothing is getting.
Any better.”
“But while he is in hospital.
I can sleep calmly.
I can’t sleep.
When he is on the front line.”
“So I am glad.
My son is in hospital now.
Although I really shouldn’t say this.
I’m glad he’s not at the front.”
But there is another fear.
Driving her tears.
She shows you.
Videos of her.
Pushing her son around.
In a wheelchair.
The two are laughing.
Covered in snow.
Then there are pictures.
Of the skin grafts he’s had.
Where she says the doctors.
Have “performed a miracle”.
But as soon as.
Her son is fully fit.
He’s told his mother.
He’ll go back to the front.
He says there are.
Not enough soldiers there.
His friends need him.
His friends need him.
So she is praying for.
The war to end first.
“I think he has.
Already done his duty.”
Eyes full of tears.
“As a mother.
It is a sin.
To say this.”
“But while he is in hospital.
I can sleep calmly.
I can’t sleep.
When he is on the front line.”
“So I am glad.
My son is in hospital now.
Although I really shouldn’t say this.
I’m glad he’s not at the front.”
*Because I read “Exhausted Ukraine struggles to find new men for front line” by Sarah Rainsford on 12 Feb 2024, 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 Lilia and Serhiy.
Please read the original story on the BBC news:
Exhausted Ukraine struggles to find new men for front line – BBC News
