‘I think I’ll go and meet her,’
said Alice, for,
though the flowers
were interesting enough,
she felt that
it would be far grander
to have a talk
with a real Queen.
‘You can’t possibly do that,’
said the Rose:
‘I should advise you
to walk the other way.’
This sounded nonsense to Alice,
so she said nothing,
but set off at once
towards the Red Queen.
To her surprise,
she lost sight of her
in a moment, and found herself
walking in at the front-door again.
Through the Looking-Glass.
And what Alice found there.
The chessmen were walking about.
Two and two!
To dare to embark.
On this journey.
– difficult, expensive.
And dangerous –
To dare to embark.
On this journey.
There must be.
A good reason.
Through the Looking-Glass.
And what Alice found there.
The chessmen were walking about.
Two and two!
Through the Looking-Glass.
And what Alice found there.
‘Where do you come from?’
said the Red Queen.
She had such a reason.
Last fall.
Her husband, with whom.
She had lived all her life.
Raised children.
And already had grandchildren.
Her husband.
Died suddenly.
It happened in their apartment.
In Luhansk.
It happened in their apartment.
In Luhansk.
Through the Looking-Glass.
And what Alice found there.
The chessmen were walking about.
Two and two!
Alice looked round eagerly,
and found that
it was the Red Queen.
it was the Red Queen.
After 2014.
She moved to Kyiv.
Where their children lived.
And her husband stayed.
Because he did not want.
To leave his home.
Where he had lived.
For many years.
She came to him.
From time to time.
In occupied Luhansk until.
The road became too difficult.
Through the Looking-Glass.
And what Alice found there.
The chessmen were walking about.
Two and two!
Through the Looking-Glass.
And what Alice found there.
‘She’s grown a good deal!’
was her first remark.
When the full-scale war began.
She was abroad.
Her daughter had been living there.
For several years.
And she came to help her.
With her grandchildren.
One day, her husband.
Stopped answering calls.
One day, her husband.
Stopped answering calls.
And she and her daughter.
Sounded the alarm.
Through the Looking-Glass.
And what Alice found there.
The chessmen were walking about.
Two and two!
She had indeed:
when Alice first found her
in the ashes,
she had been only three inches high
She has no relatives.
Or close acquaintances.
Left in Luhansk.
Left in Luhansk.
A neighbor was able to.
Get into the apartment.
Only the next day.
He also helped.
Organise a funeral.
Which was attended by.
None of her relatives.
Or her husband’s.
Through the Looking-Glass.
And what Alice found there.
The chessmen were walking about.
Two and two!
– and here she was,
half a head taller
than Alice herself!
than Alice herself!
Heartbroken.
She began to learn.
How to get to Luhansk.
How to get to Luhansk.
She read telegram chats.
Where people talked.
About their experience.
And about filtration.
And about filtration.
At the Moscow airport.
Many of them were not.
Allowed to pass.
Through the Looking-Glass.
And what Alice found there.
The chessmen were walking about.
Two and two!
Through the Looking-Glass.
And what Alice found there.
‘Where do you come from?’
said the Red Queen.
They discuss the journey.
Checks at the airport.
By the ‘orcs’ security services and.
Most importantly.
What are the chances.
Of passing the “filtration” and.
Getting to your home or relatives.
In the occupied areas.
‘And where are you going?
Look up, speak nicely,
and don’t twiddle your fingers
all the time.’
Alice attended to all these directions,
and explained,
as well as she could,
that she had lost her way.
A few weeks after.
The death of her husband.
She decided to travel.
Her daughter helped her.
With the purchase of tickets.
Because her pension.
Would not be enough.
For such a trip.
The road to Sheremetyevo.
Took the woman.
Almost three days.
– she first reached.
– she first reached.
Vilnius in Lithuania.
Spent the night there.
Went by bus to Minsk.
Stayed there again.
for the night.
Because the plane to Moscow.
Was in the morning.
‘I don’t know what you mean
by your way,’ said the Queen:
‘all the ways about here
belong to me –
but why did you come out here at all?’
she added in a kinder tone.
‘Curtsey while you’re thinking
what to say, it saves time.’
At Sheremetyevo Airport.
She and several of.
Her fellow travelers.
Who were also supposed.
To undergo filtration.
Had their fingerprints taken.
Their passports checked.
And were told to wait.
They had to wait.
For several hours.
Other people were waiting.
With her to be checked.
Some were going.
To Mariupol.
Some were going.
To Berdyansk.
There were also women.
With children and.
Very elderly people.
Some even in a wheelchair.
Through the Looking-Glass.
And what Alice found there.
‘It’s time for you to answer now,’
the Queen said, looking at her watch:
‘open your mouth
a little wider when you speak,
and always say
“your Majesty.”’
At some point.
Her phone and tablet.
Were taken away.
And she was asked.
For their passwords and.
Social media account passwords.
When she was finally.
Called in for questioning.
Her devices were returned.
To her with.
A green sticker on them.
“I thought that meant.”
“They hadn’t found.
Anything suspicious.”
She does not actively.
Use social media.
She had subscribed.
To several bloggers.
But deleted these subscriptions.
Before her trip.
She also deleted.
The contacts of people.
She did not know very well.
And with whom she might.
And with whom she might.
Have had contact in the past.
For everyday matters.
From her phone, just in case.
‘I only wanted to see
what the garden was like,
your Majesty –’
‘That’s right,’ said the Queen,
patting her on the head,
which Alice didn’t like at all,
‘though, when you say “garden,”
– I’ve seen gardens,
Her conversation with.
An officer of the ‘Mordor’’s.
Federal Security Service.
Lasted about 40 minutes.
He asked about her whole life.
– where she studied.
What she worked.
For in Luhansk.
And asked why.
She moved to Kyiv.
In 2014.
He asked about her whole life.
There were questions.
About her life abroad.
As well as about.
Her children.
compared with which
this would be a wilderness.’
Alice didn’t dare to argue
the point, but went on:
‘- and I thought I’d try
And find my way
to the top of that hill –’
‘When you say “hill”,’
The officer wrote down.
All their data and contacts.
When she explained that.
She was going to settle things.
She was going to settle things.
After her husband’s death.
She was also asked.
If she planned to return.
If she planned to return.
“I was worried.
But I said everything honestly.
I didn’t hide anything.”
the Queen interrupted,
‘I could show you hills,
in comparison with which
you’d call that a valley.’
‘No, I shouldn’t,’ said Alice,
surprised into contradicting
her at last: ‘a hill can’t
be a valley, you know.
When the conversation ended.
She was sure that.
She would be let through.
She would be let through.
“I said my husband died there.
That’s why I’m leaving.”
“I said my husband died there.
That’s why I’m leaving.”
That would be nonsense –’
The Red Queen shook her head.
‘You may call it “nonsense”
if you like,’ she said,
‘but I’ve heard nonsense,
compared with which
that would be as sensible
as a dictionary!’
After a while.
She was invited to another office.
A swab was taken.
From her mouth.
Fingerprints were taken again.
And she was asked.
To sign a document.
After that.
She was called into another room.
Where it was announced.
That she was prohibited.
From entering ‘Mordor’.
“I was in a panic.
I asked why.
But no one explained anything.”
But no one explained anything.”
Alice curtseyed again,
as she was afraid from
the Queen’s tone that
she was a little offended:
and they walked on
in silence
till they got to the top
of the little hill.
She was given.
Her passport when.
She boarded the return flight.
To Minsk.
As she found out later.
She was not allowed.
To enter on the basis.
Of an article.
About the threat to.
The security of.
The ‘Mordor’’s Federation.
She is banned from entering.
Until the end of.
The “special military operation”.
As the ‘orcs’ authorities call.
Their war against Ukraine.
Through the Looking-Glass.
And what Alice found there.
The chessmen were walking about.
Two and two!
Through the Looking-Glass.
And what Alice found there.
‘Where do you come from?’
said the Red Queen.
To dare to embark.
On this journey.
– difficult, expensive.
And dangerous –
To dare to embark.
On this journey.
There must be.
A good reason.
Through the Looking-Glass.
And what Alice found there.
The chessmen were walking about.
Two and two!
To her surprise,
she lost sight of her
in a moment, and found herself
walking in at the front-door again.
A little provoked,
she drew back, and
after looking everywhere
for the Queen
(whom she spied out at last,
a long way off),
she thought she would
try the plan, this time,
of walking in the opposite direction.
It succeeded beautifully.
She had not been walking
a minute before she found herself
face to face
with the Red Queen,
and full in sight of the hill
she had been so long aiming at.
*Because I read “”Тата поховали на городі, де росли троянди”. Як розділені фронтом сім’ї не можуть попрощатися з рідними(“Dad was buried in the garden where roses grew.” How families divided by the front cannot say goodbye to their relatives)” by Вікторія Приседська(Victoria Prysedska) on 28 Jun 2025 on the BBC news Ukraine, and also “Why are Ukrainians calling Russians ‘orcs’?” by James FitzGerald on 30 Apr 2022, on the BBC news.
So, I wrote this poem, led by ‘THROUGH the LOOKING-GLASS’ written by Lewis Carroll, you know.
Please read the original story on the BBC news Ukraine:
