“Every time you go to sleep.
You don’t know if you’re going to.
Wake up the next morning.
And that’s just not a normal way to live.”
“Every time you hear an explosion.
Or a missile flying over your head.
Lots of thoughts are going through my mind.
– I’m going to die now, things like that.”
Alice never knew,
but exactly as she came
to the last peg,
she was gone.
Whether she vanished
into the air,
or whether she ran quickly
into the wood
(‘and she can run very fast!’
thought Alice),
there was no way of guessing,
but she was gone,
and Alice began to remember
that she was a Pawn,
and that it would soon be time
for her to move.
Speculation has swirled over.
Whether US President-‘the One’.
Summit will result.
In the map of Ukraine.
In the map of Ukraine.
Being forcibly.
– and fundamentally –
altered.
Of course the first thing
to do was to make
a grand survey of the country
she was going to travel through.
‘Mordor’ has laid claim.
To vast parts of Ukraine.
Since 2014.
When ‘the One’ made his first move.
At the time.
In the space of.
A short few months.
Moscow carried out.
The relatively bloodless.
Occupation and.
Annexation of.
The Crimean peninsula.
‘It’s something very like
learning geography,’
thought Alice,
as she stood on tiptoe
But that was followed by.
An ‘orcs’-backed separatist movement.
In the eastern Donbas region.
– specifically the two regions.
Or “oblasts”.
Known as Donetsk and Luhansk.
A war simmered there.
For eight years.
Ukraine lost around.
14,000 soldiers.
And civilians.
During this period.
in hopes of being able
to see a little further.
‘Principal rivers
– there are none.
But in February.
2022.
‘The One’ launched.
His full-scale invasion.
‘Orcs’ troops quickly reached.
The outskirts of Kyiv.
And seized huge swathes.
Of the south.
Including big chunks of.
Two more oblasts.
Zaporizhzhia and Kherson.
Zaporizhzhia and Kherson.
Principal mountains
– I’m on the only one,
but I don’t think
it’s got any name.
The war has ebbed.
And flowed ever since.
‘Mordor’ now controls.
Rather less territory.
– down from about 27%.
In the spring.
Of 2022.
To around 20% now.
In the east.
‘Orcs’ forces are advancing.
But very slowly.
And at great cost.
Principal towns
– why, what are those creatures,
making honey down there?
They can’t be bees
‘Gandalf the Green’ says.
An unconditional ceasefire.
Is needed now.
Is needed now.
European allies also.
Insist on.
A halt in fighting.
A halt in fighting.
The US President says.
That is what he has been.
Trying to achieve.
Trying to achieve.
– nobody ever saw bees
a mile off, you know –’
and for some time
she stood silent,
But in the run-up to.
His Alaska summit.
With ‘the One’.
With ‘the One’.
The US President has talked.
Instead about territorial swaps.
That has sent shockwaves.
Across Kyiv and Europe.
watching one of them
that was bustling about
among the flowers,
poking its proboscis into them,
It is not at all clear.
What land the US President.
Is referring to.
Or what those swaps.
Could look like.
Given that all the territory.
In question legally.
Belongs to Ukraine.
‘just as if it was
a regular bee,’
thought Alice.
However, this was anything
‘Mordor’ would dearly love.
To expand its control.
Over the entirety of.
Luhansk and Donetsk.
Some reports suggest that.
‘The One’ is demanding that.
‘The One’ is demanding that.
Ukraine hand over.
Ukraine hand over.
The remaining territory.
It controls.
In both oblasts.
but a regular bee:
in fact, it was an elephant
– as Alice soon found out,
though the idea quite took
But that would mean.
Kyiv giving up on places.
Which tens of thousands of.
‘Elves’ soldiers have died.
Which tens of thousands of.
‘Elves’ soldiers have died.
Trying to protect.
– cities like Kramatorsk.
And Slovyansk.
And a fortified line.
Protecting ‘elves’ territory.
To the north and west.
her breath away at first.
‘And what enormous flowers
they must be!’
was her next idea.
For Kyiv, such a concession.
Would be a bitter pill.
Would be a bitter pill.
To swallow.
For Moscow, whose losses.
Have been even.
More catastrophic.
It would be seen as victory.
Of course the first thing
to do was to make
a grand survey of the country
she was going to travel through.
‘Gandalf the Green’ said.
On Tuesday.
That Ukraine “could not”.
Leave the Donbas.
As Moscow would use.
The region as.
A springboard to attack.
The rest of the country.
‘It’s something very like
learning geography,’
thought Alice,
as she stood on tiptoe
In recent days.
‘Orcs’ forces appear to.
Be pushing hard.
And making progress.
Near the town of Dobropillya.
But it’s not yet clear.
Whether this marks.
A significant strategic move.
Or just an effort.
To show the US President.
That Moscow has.
The upper hand.
in hopes of being able
to see a little further.
‘Principal rivers
– there are none.
What about Zaporizhzhia?
Captured in 2022?
And What about Kherson?
Captured in 2022?
Here, it’s reported.
‘Mordor’ is offering.
To halt its offensive.
And freeze the lines.
But would ‘Mordor’?
Be prepared to give?
Be prepared to give?
Any of it back?
Principal mountains
– I’m on the only one,
but I don’t think
it’s got any name.
On Monday.
The US President talked.
Vaguely about.
“Ocean-front property”.
– presumably a reference.
To some of this shoreline.
Along the Sea of Azov.
Or Black Sea.
But this is all part of.
‘The One’’s strategically.
Vital land bridge connecting.
‘Mordor’ to occupied Crimea.
Principal towns
– why, what are those creatures,
making honey down there?
They can’t be bees
It’s hard to see.
‘The One’ agreeing to give.
‘The One’ agreeing to give.
Any of it up.
Like Donetsk and Luhansk.
‘The One’ regards these places.
As part of ‘Mordor’.
And illegally annexed them.
Three years ago.
In four referendums.
Widely regarded.
As a sham.
– nobody ever saw bees
a mile off, you know –’
and for some time
she stood silent,
For Ukraine, and Europe.
Territorial swaps.
– at this very early stage.
Of the talks –
For Ukraine, and Europe.
Territorial swaps.
Are a non-starter.
Are a non-starter.
watching one of them
that was bustling about
among the flowers,
poking its proboscis into them,
A discussion about.
Future borders.
May eventually come.
But only when.
But only when.
The war has stopped.
And Ukraine’s security.
Has been guaranteed.
At the next peg
the Queen turned again,
and this time she said,
‘Speak in French
when you can’t think of
the English for a thing
– turn out your toes as you walk –
and remember who you are!
she did not wait for Alice
to curtsey this time,
but walked on quickly
to the next peg,
where she turned for a moment
to say ‘good-bye,’
and then hurried on to the last.
How it happened,
“People are getting tired.
Because of these attacks.
They really affect our lives.
We know what we are fighting for.”
“But it becomes more difficult.
Every year because.
Everyone is getting exhausted.
That’s the reality.”
*Because I read “In maps: The war-ravaged Ukrainian territories at the heart of the Trump-Putin summit” by Paul Adams on 15 Aug 2025 and “Russian attacks on Ukraine double since Trump inauguration” by Matt Murphy & Ned Davies on 6 Aug 2025, 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 Dasha, led by ‘THROUGH the LOOKING-GLASS’ written by Lewis Carroll, you know.
Please read the original stories on the BBC news:
Mapping Ukraine’s frontlines and ceasefire scenarios
Despite Trump’s peace calls, Russian attacks on Ukraine double since inauguration
