‘Orcs’ captured the land.
‘Orcs’ captured, but he’ll be back to.
‘Orcs’ captured the land.
Behind the white walls.
Of St Andrew’s Church.
Where many were buried in.
A mass grave during the occupation.
There is now a memorial wall.
Of metal plaques.
So far it displays.
509 names.
‘Orcs’ captured the land.
‘Orcs’ captured, but he’ll be back to.
‘Orcs’ captured the land.
Some squares are still blank.
Because there are more than.
100 unidentified bodies.
At the town cemetery.
Unearthed from.
Shallow graves.
All over Bucha.
And reburied.
DNA samples were taken first.
In the hope that.
Someone would one day come.
Looking for them.
Other plaques on the memorial wall.
Have no death date.
Only the month of March.
When Bucha was under ‘orcs’ occupation.
‘Orcs’ captured the land.
‘Orcs’ captured, but he’ll be back to.
‘Orcs’ captured the land.
Opposite is.
A sign that lists.
The dozens of people.
Still missing.
Among the names.
Is her husband.
Whose wife you first met.
In 2022.
You were investigating.
The killing.
Of five men.
From Bucha.
Whose bodies.
Had been found.
Beneath Camp Radiant.
A children’s summer camp.
‘Orcs’ captured the land.
‘Orcs’ captured, but he’ll be back to.
‘Orcs’ captured the land.
Her husband had been.
Taken away by ‘orcs’ soldiers.
And she feared he might be.
One of the dead.
He wasn’t.
After months of searching.
She finally traced her husband.
To a prison in ‘Mordor’.
“They took him to Belarus.
Then to Detention Centre.
Number Two in Bryansk.
In ‘Mordor’.”
Through other ‘elves’ swapped.
For ‘orcs’ POWs.
She learned that he was then.
Moved to a facility in Tula.
“‘Mordor’ has officially confirmed.
He’s a prisoner.
But I had to find him.
Through my own contacts.”
“They should just give.
The civilians back.
But they don’t.”
“But they don’t.”
‘Orcs’ captured the land.
‘Orcs’ captured, but he’ll be back to.
‘Orcs’ captured the land.
Her husband retired.
From the army.
In 2019.
With PTSD.
As a civilian prisoner.
She fears.
His chances of.
Being exchanged are slim.
As only a few dozen.
Non-combatants.
Have been returned.
So far.
“There are a lot of civilians.
From Bucha missing.
People we know.
Are in prison.”
“But the ‘orcs’ haven’t confirmed.
At least they’ve admitted.
To having my husband.
Officially.”
She has heard nothing.
From her husband.
Directly since.
He was taken.
But she knows from others.
Held in Bryansk.
That they were tortured.
“They say it was really hard.”
“They were not fed.
They were badly beaten.
Including with electric shock.
And pipes.”
“Now I don’t know.
What else to do.
I can’t get him freed.
I can’t find any way to do it.”
‘Orcs’ captured the land.
‘Orcs’ captured, but he’ll be back to.
‘Orcs’ captured the land.
She herself is.
Ethnically ‘orc’.
Both her parents are.
From the country.
Now holding her husband.
Prisoner illegally.
And accused of.
Abusing him.
It was people like her.
That ‘the One’ used.
As his excuse.
For invading Ukraine.
‘The One’ claimed they needed.
Saving from brutal treatment.
At the hands of.
A “Nazi” government in Kyiv.
‘Orcs’ captured the land.
‘Orcs’ captured, but he’ll be back to.
‘Orcs’ captured the land.
As you talk.
In the yard.
Children play football.
Laughing and shouting.
Most of the pre-war population.
Of Bucha has returned.
Including many who fled.
Ukraine as refugees.
But she worries things could.
Deteriorate again.
“You see what.
‘The One’’s up to.”
“Blaming Ukraine for.
The Moscow terrorist attack.”
Referring to last month’s attack.
On the Crocus concert venue.
“I think he wants.
A full war.
Full mobilisation.”
“Full mobilisation.”
‘Orcs’ captured the land.
‘Orcs’ captured, but he’ll be back to.
‘Orcs’ captured the land.
*Because I read “Ukraine war: Bucha’s wounds still raw two years on” by Sarah Rainsford on 7 Apr 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, including a story of Bogdan and Natalia.
Please read the original story on the BBC news:
Ukraine war: Bucha’s wounds still raw two years on (bbc.com)
