From a block.
You had thought was empty.
A woman emerged.
From her damaged flat.
Its walls covered.
In scorch marks.
“They were bombing.
Here for a month.”
“And everything.
Got burnt.”
Said the woman.
Who’s 71.
Extraordinarily.
She stayed in her flat.
Throughout the terrifying.
Battle for Bucha.
She is one of very few.
Residents who have remained.
In her apartment block.
Throughout the war.
The task of reconstruction.
Is expected to be.
The biggest of its kind.
Since World War Two.
But the government hopes.
A flagship project in Bucha.
A town shattered.
At the start of the war.
But the government hopes.
A flagship project in Bucha.
Will show new standards for.
Transparency have been set.
Nearly two years ago.
This town became a byword.
For some of the worst atrocities.
Of ‘orcs’ full-scale invasion.
‘Orcs’ occupying forces.
Are accused of.
Killing about.
500 people.
A nine-storey Soviet-era block.
Caught in the cross-fire.
Between the two armies.
Has become a building site.
Most of the 330 residents.
Have gone.
Scattered across Ukraine.
Or abroad.
And they will.
Only return.
When the work is complete.
Next spring.
But the rebuilding of.
The Bucha apartments.
Is intended to show that.
The country can “build back better”.
And that means.
Not just more modern homes.
Designed according to.
Residents’ wishes.
But also projects.
Funded monitored.
and accounted for.
In the most open way.
From a block.
You had thought was empty.
A woman emerged.
From her damaged flat.
Its walls covered.
In scorch marks.
“They were bombing.
Here for a month.”
“And everything.
Got burnt.”
Said the woman.
Who’s 71.
Extraordinarily.
She stayed in her flat.
Throughout the terrifying.
Battle for Bucha.
*Because I read “Ukraine war: Hopes of rebuilding rely on fighting corruption” by Tim Whewell on 21 Dec 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 Anna.
Please read the original story on the BBC news:
Ukraine war: Hopes of rebuilding rely on fighting corruption (bbc.com)
