In the midst of the word he was trying to say,
In the midst of his laughter and glee,
He had softly and suddenly vanished away—
For the Snark was a Boojum, you see.
Before the full-scale invasion started.
He, now 42.
Was one of ‘elves.
Top bio-engineers.
Trained to create.
Trained to create.
3D models for facial.
Reconstruction surgeries.
“It’s a Snark!” was the sound that first came to their ears,
And seemed almost too good to be true.
Then followed a torrent of laughter and cheers:
Then the ominous words “It’s a Boo—”
After 2022.
He volunteered.
As a medic.
And was later mobilised.
“If the war hadn’t happened.
I may have moved to Copenhagen.
I worked there a lot.
With the best surgeons.”
Then, silence. Some fancied they heard in the air
A weary and wandering sigh
That sounded like “-jum!” but the others declare
It was only a breeze that went by.
Instead, he has spent.
The last years.
In dugouts.
Around Ukraine.
Now, from his position.
In the north of the country.
He tries “not to think.
About the future.”
“- I live here and now”.
“- I live here and now”.
He is a combat medic.
In an unmanned systems battalion.
In a sense.
His life is his work.
– just as it was before.
He joined the army.
They hunted till darkness came on, but they found
Not a button, or feather, or mark,
By which they could tell that they stood on the ground
Where the Baker had met with the Snark.
For now, there is.
No end in sight.
“I will rest.
After the war.”
“I will rest.
After the war.”
He laughs.
Then he pauses.
“No, there’ll be lots of.
Reconstruction surgery.
To be done then.
So, maybe, after that.”
In the midst of the word he was trying to say,
In the midst of his laughter and glee,
He had softly and suddenly vanished away—
For the Snark was a Boojum, you see.
*Because I read “Civilians to soldiers: how four years of war has changed ordinary Ukrainians” by Laura Gozzi on 21 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, as a story of Roman, led by ‘The Hunting of the Snark’ written by Lewis Carroll, you know.
Please read the original story on the BBC news:
Civilians to soldiers: how four years of war has changed ordinary Ukrainians
