POETS IN JOY ｜ Koryu meets Chess

‘It was a glorious victory, wasn’t it?’

said the White Knight,

as he came up panting.

‘I don’t know,’

Alice said doubtfully.

‘I don’t want to be

anybody’s prisoner.

I want to be a Queen.’

‘So you will,

when you’ve crossed

the next brook,’

said the White Knight.

‘I’ll see you safe

to the end of the wood

– and then I must go back, you know.

That’s the end of my move.’

His family were sure.

The soldier had been.

Killed in action.

In 2023.

They’d buried his body.

In the village cemetery.

In western Ukraine.

But he has just.

Phoned his mother.

Weakened and exhausted.

– but very much alive.

He’s been released.

From ‘orcs’ captivity.

In the latest prisoner swap.

‘And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?

Come to my arms, my beamish boy!

O frab jous day! Callooh! Callay!

He chortled in his joy.

’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves

Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;

All mimsy were the borogoves,

And the mome raths outgrabe.

‘Elves’ and ‘orcs’.

Have conducted.

A rare exchange of.

Prisoners of war and civilians.

After two days of.

US-brokered peace talks.

In Abu Dhabi.

A total of 157 ‘elves’.

– seven of them civilians –

And 157 ‘orcs’ soldiers.

Were returned home.

In the first such swap.

In four months.

In the first such swap.

In four months.

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.

White Pawn to play.

And win in eleven moves.

The trilateral talks began.

As ‘Mordor’ renewed.

Its deadly attacks.

On Ukraine.

After a week-long pause.

That the US President had.

Asked ‘the One’ to observe.

As a fierce cold swept Ukraine.

Moscow has been targeting.

The country’s energy sector.

Leaving thousands of people.

Without electricity.

Without heating.

And without water.

In freezing temperatures.

’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves

Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;

All mimsy were the borogoves,

And the mome raths outgrabe.

‘Beware the Jabberwock, my son!

The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!

Beware the Jujub bird, and shun

The frumious Bandersnatch!’

“My emotions were so strong.”

The soldier’s mother said.

Still reeling.

From the shock.

The joy of all the family.

At that first call.

Captured on video.

Is overwhelming.

She asks her son.

Whether he’s intact.

“You have your arms?

Your legs, everything?”

She wants to know.

“My golden child.

I have been waiting.

For you so long.”

His cousin is screaming.

And jumping.

For joy in the background.

‘And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?

Come to my arms, my beamish boy!

O frab jous day! Callooh! Callay!

He chortled in his joy.

’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves

Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;

All mimsy were the borogoves,

And the mome raths outgrabe.

“It was so strange.

Because my son had died.

I buried him.

But here’s his voice.”

“Can you imagine?

The emotions of a mother?

Happiness. Great happiness.

I could not hold back my tears.”

The full story.

Of his return.

From the grave.

Is extraordinary.

Especially in a country.

At war where.

Good news is precious.

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.

One thing was certain, that.

The white kitten had nothing to do with it.

When ‘Mordor’ launched.

Its full-scale invasion.

In 2022.

The soldier – who was 42 then –

Went straight back to the front:

He’d already fought.

In 2014.

So he was experienced.

“He didn’t have any doubt.

He went immediately.”

His cousin said.

Where the noise came from,

she couldn’t make out;

the air seemed full of it,

and it rang

through and through her head

till she felt quite deafened.

She started to her feet and sprang

across the little brook in her terror,

But in May.

That first year.

He went missing.

In action.

His mother then.

Got a call.

From a man speaking.

‘Orcs’-language who said.

He had been captured.

But “everything will be fine”.

He had been captured.

But “everything will be fine”.

and had just time to see

the Lion and the Unicorn

rise to their feet,

with angry looks

at being interrupted

in their feast,

before she dropped

to her knees,

The mystery voice.

Didn’t say where he was.

Who was holding him.

– or whether he was injured.

The family had no idea.

Whether to believe him –

and they got.

No official news.

and put her hands

over her ears,

vainly trying to shut out

the dreadful uproar.

‘If that doesn’t

“drum them out of town,” ’

she thought to herself,

‘nothing ever will!’

That was until a year later.

When his mother was.

Informed that a body.

Had been identified.

In a morgue.

In south-eastern Ukraine.

Using a sample of.

DNA she had given.

After a while

the noise seemed gradually

to die away,

till all was dead silence,

and Alice lifted up

her head in some alarm.

There was no one to be seen,

and her first thought was that

“The body was badly burned.

They had several that.

They found in a burned bus.

When they started.”

“Looking at the lists.

Of missing soldiers.

The data matched.”

His cousin explains.

“They identified.

This body as him.”

So the family received the body.

Held a funeral and they grieved.

she must have been dreaming

about the Lion and the Unicorn

and those queer

Anglo-Saxon Messengers.

However, there was the great dish

still lying at her feet,

on which she had tried to cut

the plum-cake,

Then last September.

They got the biggest shock.

Of all.

A soldier, just released.

By ‘Mordor’.

Called to tell them.

He was alive.

He had seen him in jail.

“We were shocked.

It was so hard to believe.”

“But why would he lie?”

His cousin remembers.

How it felt.

‘So I wasn’t dreaming, after all,’

she said to herself,

‘unless – unless we’re all part of

the same dream.

Only I do hope it’s my dream,

and not the Red King’s!

I don’t like belonging to

another person’s dream,’

Still, without.

Speaking to him.

Or seeing him.

They couldn’t be sure.

Then this week.

He called.

– back on ‘elves’ soil.

The son had been gone.

For three years.

And nine months.

The son had been gone.

she went on

in a rather complaining tone:

‘I’ve a great mind to go and

wake him, and see what happens!’

At this moment

her thoughts were interrupted

by a loud shouting of

‘Ahoy! Ahoy! Check!

As they wait.

For their big reunion.

The family have been trying.

To remove material.

About his funeral.

From social media.

Not to upset him.

They also had to get.

His photograph taken down.

From a display of fallen heroes.

In the village.

and a Knight,

dressed in crimson armour,

came galloping down upon her,

brandishing a great club.

Just as he reached her,

the horse stopped suddenly:

‘You’re my prisoner!’ the Knight cried,

as he tumbled off his horse.

There’s now.

An investigation to understand.

How such a distressing.

Mistake was made.

But for the moment.

The family have other things.

To focus on.

His mother is preparing.

All his favourite.

Homemade food.

For when he’s recovered a bit.

And ready to come home.

“I just want.

More positive outcomes.

Like ours.

For other families.”

“To get calls.

And for people.

To come home.”

His cousin says.

Startled as she was,

Alice was more frightened

for him than for herself

at the moment,

and watched him with some anxiety

as he mounted again.

As soon as he was

comfortably in the saddle,

‘Orcs’, ‘elves’ and US teams.

Took part in the talks.

In the capital of.

The United Arab Emirates.

With the main sticking points.

Believed to be.

Territorial concessions.

Ukraine is under pressure.

To make.

And security guarantees.

For it to prevent.

Further ‘orcs’ attacks.

If a deal is agreed.

To end the four-year war.

he began once more

‘You’re my –’

but here another voice

broke in

‘Ahoy! Ahoy! Check!’

and Alice looked round

in some surprise

for the new enemy.

No breakthrough.

Has been reported.

‘Gandalf the Green’ said.

The talks had not been easy.

And he wanted.

“Faster results”.

And he wanted.

“Faster results”.

This time it was

a White Knight.

He drew up at Alice’s side,

and tumbled off his horse

just as the Red Knight had done:

then he got on again,

and the two Knights sat and

looked at each other

In a post on social media.

‘Gandalf the Green’ wrote that.

Thursday’s prisoner exchange.

“Took place after a long pause”.

– referring to the previous.

Such swap last October.

“We are returning.

Our people home.”

“- 157 ‘elves’.

Soldiers of the Armed Forces.

National Guard.

State Border Service.”

“And civilians are.

Also returning.

With the defenders.”

‘Gandalf the Green’ said.

Pledging to bring back.

Every single ‘elf’.

Still in ‘orcs’ captivity.

‘Elves’ officials said.

139 had been.

In ‘orcs’ captivity.

Since 2022.

for some time

without speaking.

Alice looked from one to the other

in some bewilderment.

‘She’s my prisoner, you know!’

the Red Knight said at last.

‘Yes, but then I came and rescued her!’

the White Knight replied.

The talks in Abu Dhabi.

– the second round.

In recent weeks –

Are part of the US President’s.

Efforts to end the war.

The US special envoy and.

The US President’s son-in-law.

Have been leading the negotiations.

The talks had been.

“Detailed and productive”.

The US special envoy wrote.

But added that “significant work remains”.

‘Well, we must fight for her, then,

said the Red Knight,

as he took up his helmet

and put it on.

‘You will observe

the Rules of Battle, of course?’

the White Knight remarked,

putting on his helmet too.

The most difficult issue.

Is territory.

With ‘Mordor’ demanding.

That Ukraine cedes the rest of.

The eastern industrial region.

Of Donbas that.

‘Mordor’ does not.

Currently control.

‘I always do,’

said the Red Knight,

and they began banging away

at each other

with such fury that

Alice got behind a tree

to be out of the way

of the blows.

Another key sticking point.

Is believed to be.

Kyiv’s demand to get.

Robust security guarantees.

From its European allies.

And the US.

No details.

Have been released.

‘And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?

Come to my arms, my beamish boy!

O frab jous day! Callooh! Callay!

He chortled in his joy.

’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves

Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;

All mimsy were the borogoves,

And the mome raths outgrabe.

Some 70,000 people.

Are officially missing here.

Most thought.

To be soldiers.

Some will have been killed.

On the battlefield.

Their bodies.

Impossible to recover.

But many have been.

Taken prisoner and.

For their families.

His story will be.

A glimmer of hope.

“I wish all women, mothers.

Children get a call.”

“I wish all women, mothers.

Children get a call.

Like we had.

– and this happiness.”

“I’m just waiting.

For my son now.

To hug him so tightly.

I love him very much.”

‘It was a glorious victory, wasn’t it?’

said the White Knight,

as he came up panting.

‘I don’t know,’

Alice said doubtfully.

‘I don’t want to be

anybody’s prisoner.

I want to be a Queen.’

‘So you will,

when you’ve crossed

the next brook,’

said the White Knight.

‘I’ll see you safe

to the end of the wood

– and then I must go back, you know.

That’s the end of my move.’

*Because I read “Russia and Ukraine exchange prisoners as peace talks end without breakthrough” by Jaroslav Lukiv on 6 Feb 2026 and “Ukrainian mother’s joy after phone call with son she thought had been killed” by Sarah Rainsford on 7 Feb 2026, 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 Nazar, Nataliya and Roksolana, led by ‘THROUGH the LOOKING-GLASS’ written by Lewis Carroll, you know.
Please read the original stories on the BBC news:

Russia and Ukraine exchange prisoners as peace talks end without breakthrough

Ukrainian mother’s joy after phone call with son she thought had been killed