“Bring it here!
Let me sup!”
It is easy to set
such a dish on the table.
“Take the dish-cover up!”
Ah, that is so hard
that I fear
I’m unable!
For it holds it high glue–
Holds the lid to the dish,
while it lies
in the middle:
Which is easiest to do,
Un-dish-cover fish,
or dishcover the riddle?’
Which is easiest to do?
At least 28 people.
Have died.
After a barrage of ‘orcs’.
Drones and missiles struck.
After a barrage of ‘orcs’.
Drones and missiles struck.
Several districts of Kyiv.
On Thursday morning.
Three children.
Aged three, six.
And 17, were.
Among the dead.
Some 159 others.
Were wounded.
In the attack.
And an apartment block collapsed.
‘The sun was shining on the sea,
Shining with all his might:
He did his very best to make
The billows smooth and bright –
And this was odd, because it was
The middle of the night.
‘Orcs’ attacks have continued.
Despite the US President’s threat.
To impose tougher sanctions.
On ‘Mordor’.
If ‘the One’ does not.
If ‘the One’ does not.
Agree to a ceasefire.
By 8 August.
The moon was shining sulkily,
Because she thought the sun
Had got no business to be there
After the day was done –
“It’s very rude of him,” she said,
“To come and spoil the fun!”
“Both ‘orcs’ and ‘elves’ must.
Negotiate a ceasefire.
And durable peace.
It is time to make a deal.”
Acting US representative.
To the United Nations told.
The UN Security Council.
On Thursday.
The sea was wet as wet could be,
The sands were dry as dry.
You could not see a cloud, because
No cloud was in the sky:
No birds were flying overhead –
There were no birds to fly.
The high-pitched hum.
Of ‘orcs’ drones.
Could be heard.
For hours.
Over the city.
Interrupted by the occasional.
Loud thunder clap.
Of a missile strike.
The Walrus and the Carpenter
Were walking close at hand;
They wept like anything to see
Such quantities of sand:
“If this were only cleared away,”
They said, “it would be grand!”
‘Orcs’ launched 309 drones.
And eight cruise missiles.
During the night.
According to ‘elves’ air force.
And although officials say.
Air defences did manage.
To destroy many of them.
There were numerous hits.
Including from cruise missiles.
A red-orange glow.
Indicated destruction.
On the ground.
‘If seven maids with seven mops
Swept it for half a year,
Do you suppose,” the Walrus said,
“That they could get it clear?”
‘I doubt it,” said the Carpenter,
And shed a bitter tear.
These were the biggest airstrikes.
Since the US President brought.
Forward an earlier deadline.
To ‘the One’.
The threat of more US sanctions.
Appears to have done little.
To persuade ‘the One’.
To change course.
“O Oysters, come and walk with us!”
The Walrus did beseech.
“A pleasant walk, a pleasant talk,
Along the briny beach:
We cannot do with more than four,
To give a hand to each.”
Meanwhile, ‘Mordor’ claimed.
Further success.
On the battlefield.
Declaring that.
It had captured.
The strategically important.
Hilltop town of Chasiv Yar.
In the eastern Donetsk region.
Ukraine denied it had fallen.
However, and military analysts.
Said fighting there.
Was continuing.
The eldest Oyster looked at him.
But never a word he said:
The eldest Oyster winked his eye,
And shook his heavy head –
Meaning to say he did not choose
To leave the oyster-bed.
Three of the fatalities.
In Kyiv were.
At the site of.
The residential apartment block.
“An entire entrance.
Was destroyed.
Rescuers are clearing the rubble.”
Said the ‘elf’ interior minister.
But four young oysters hurried up,
All eager for the treat:
Their coats were brushed, their faces washed,
Their shoes were clean and neat –
And this was odd, because, you know,
They hadn’t any feet.
‘Gandalf the Green’ said.
The capital was.
The focus of ‘orcs’.
Overnight attacks.
“The world has yet again.
Seen ‘Mordor’’s response to.
Our, America’s and Europe’s.
Desire for peace.”
“More demonstrative murder.”
He said on social media.
“This is why peace.
Without strength is impossible.”
Four other oysters followed them,
And yet another four;
And thick and fast they came at last,
And more, and more, and more –
All hopping through the frothy waves,
And scrambling to the shore.
Kyiv’s Sviatoshynskyi and.
Solomyansky districts were.
Hit hardest.
In the attack.
The windows of.
A hospital ward.
For children.
For children.
In Shevchenkivskyi district.
Were blown out.
By a shockwave.
Kyiv’s mayor said.
One of the city’s.
Higher education institutions.
A school and a kindergarten.
Were also damaged.
The Walrus and the Carpenter
Walked on a mile or so,
And then they rested on a rock
Conveniently low:
And all the little Oysters stood
And waited in a row.
The Foreign Minister said.
It was a “horrible morning”.
In Kyiv, and that there are.
“Still people under the rubble”.
He added that.
The US President had been.
“Very generous and patient”.
With ‘the One’.
But now it was time.
To put “maximum pressure.
On ‘Mordor’”.
Through sanctions.
“The time has come,” the Walrus said,
“To talk of many things:
Of shoes – and ships – and sealing-wax –
Of cabbages – and kings –
And why the sea is boiling hot –
And whether pigs have wings.”
Earlier in July.
The US President set.
A 50-day deadline.
For ‘the One’.
To reach a truce.
To reach a truce.
With ‘elves’.
Or risk economic penalties.
“But wait a bit,” the Oysters cried,
“Before we have our chat;
For some of us are out of breath,
And all of us are fat!”
“No hurry!” said the Carpenter.
They thanked him much for that.
On Monday.
During a visit to the UK.
The US President cut.
That deadline.
To “ten or 12 days”.
Expressing his disapproval.
At ‘the One’’s actions.
In Ukraine.
More than three years.
Since ‘Mordor’ launched.
Its full-scale invasion.
Of the country.
“A loaf of bread,” the Walrus said,
“Is what we chiefly need:
Pepper and vinegar besides
Are very good indeed –
Now if you’re ready, Oysters dear,
We can begin to feed.”
The US President didn’t say.
Whether he felt ‘the One’.
Had been “lying”.
To him.
But he said there was.
A discrepancy between.
‘The One’’s rhetoric.
During their one-on-one conversations.
And the missiles “lobbed”.
On ‘elves’ cities.
‘The One’’s rhetoric.
And the missiles.
“We were going to.
Have a ceasefire.
And maybe peace…
and all of a sudden.”
“You have missiles.
Flying into Kyiv.
And other places.”
The US President said.
‘But not on us!” the Oysters cried,
Turning a little blue.
“After such kindness, that would be
A dismal thing to do!”
“The night is fine,” the Walrus said.
“Do you admire the view?”
Meanwhile, on the front line.
In eastern Ukraine.
Kyiv denied ‘orcs’ claims.
Kyiv denied ‘orcs’ claims.
That the town of Chasiv Yar.
Had finally fallen.
After a battle for it.
That began in April last year.
“It was so kind of you to come!
And you are very nice!”
The Carpenter said nothing but
“Cut us another slice:
I wish you were not quite so deaf –
I’ve had to ask you twice!”
Little remains of Chasiv Yar.
After 16 months of fighting.
But ‘elves’ reports cited.
Military officials.
As saying the ‘orcs’.
Were spreading disinformation.
As saying the ‘orcs’.
Were spreading disinformation.
“It seems a shame,” the Walrus said,
“To play them such a trick,
After we’ve brought them out so far,
And made them trot so quick!”
The Carpenter said nothing but
“The butter’s spread too thick!”
It was suggested that.
The ‘orcs’ had taken control.
Of eastern and northern parts.
Of Chasiv Yar.
But fighting was still.
Going on in other areas.
But fighting was still.
Going on in other areas.
“I weep for you,” the Walrus said,
“I deeply sympathize.”
With sobs and tears he sorted out
Those of the largest size,
Holding his pocket-handkerchief
Before his streaming eyes.
Controlling the high ground.
That it sits on.
Would give ‘Mordor’.
A significant vantage point.
To target the big cities.
Of the Donetsk region to the west.
Including Druzhivka.
Kramatorsk and Sloviansk.
‘Elves’ forces have faced.
Superior ‘orcs’ manpower.
On the front lines.
Throughout the war.
But reported shortages.
In the east have left.
Another key ‘orcs’ target.
Increasingly vulnerable.
“O Oysters,” said the Carpenter.
“You’ve had a pleasant run!
Shall we be trotting home again?”
But answer came there none –
And this was scarcely odd, because
They’d eaten every one.’
The town of Pokrovsk.
Lies about 60km.
To the south-west.
Of Chasiv Yar.
And is described.
As the hottest spot.
On the front line.
At this point of the war.
Analysts are concerned that.
The thousands of ‘elves’.
Defending the city.
Could be at risk of.
Could be at risk of.
Encirclement from.
‘Orcs’ troops.
‘Orcs’ troops.
‘“First, the fish must be caught.”
That is easy:
a baby, I think,
could have caught it.
“Next, the fish must be bought.”
That is easy:
a penny, I think,
would have bought it.
“Now cook me the fish!”
That is easy,
and will not take
more than a minute.
“Let it lie in a dish!”
That is easy,
because it already
is in it.
*Because I read “At least 28 killed in Kyiv as wave of Russian strikes defies Trump ceasefire demand” by Jonathan Beale & Paul Kirby on 1 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, led by ‘THROUGH the LOOKING-GLASS’ written by Lewis Carroll, you know.
Please read the original story on the BBC news:
Kyiv toll rises to 28 as wave of Russian strikes defies Trump ceasefire demand
