And ‘vorse I may be yet:
the worst is not
So long as we can say
‘This is the worst.’
“The road is mined.
So, we’re stuck here.”
Says a woman.
Over the phone.
From the rooftop of.
From the rooftop of.
A fire-damaged house.
In southern Ukraine.
“People are trying.
Their best to survive.”
“The road is mined.
So, we’re stuck here.”
As flies to wanton boys,
are we to the gods,
They kill us
for their sport.
Her frontline home city.
Of Oleshky has.
Of Oleshky has.
Been largely cut off.
From fresh supplies.
Of food or medicine.
For months.
For months.
No farther, sir;
a man may rot even here.
No farther, sir;
a man may rot even here.
She describes.
Being trapped there.
And watching it decaying.
Before her eyes.
‘Elves’ commissioner.
For human rights.
Has warned of.
A “humanitarian crisis.”
As flies to wanton boys,
are we to the gods,
They kill us
for their sport.
Some recent deliveries.
Do seem to have gone through.
Organised by volunteers.
Or aid groups.
Some photos show.
A crowd of people.
Many of them elderly.
Many of them elderly.
Apparently fetching.
Fresh supplies.
In a city square.
In a city square.
No farther, sir;
a man may rot even here.
No farther, sir;
a man may rot even here.
A relief even if prices.
Were high, she says.
As people have had to.
Forage for food.
In the abandoned homes.
Of neighbours.
Pasta and tinned goods.
She tells you.
Pasta and tinned goods.
have become a key staple.
For the roughly 2,000.
Remaining population.
As flies to wanton boys,
are we to the gods,
They kill us
for their sport.
Any attempt to leave.
Oleshky, say locals.
Is to gamble with your life.
Along what’s been dubbed.
“The Road of Death”.
“The Road of Death”.
– due to reports of.
Heavy mining.
Away, old man;
give me thy hand; away!
Give me thy hand; come on.
Give me thy hand; come on.
Oleshky is imprisoned by.
Both geography and war;
Cut off by a river and.
Wrecked bridges to the north.
Cut off by a river and.
Wrecked bridges to the north.
– and dangerous or.
Impassable roads inland.
All the while.
It is caught.
In the crossfire of.
Opposing armies.
No farther, sir;
a man may rot even here.
No farther, sir;
a man may rot even here.
The city lies on.
The left or east bank.
Of the Dnipro river.
Of the Dnipro river.
And has been under.
‘Orcs’ occupation.
Since ‘Mordor’ launched.
Its full-scale invasion.
Men must endure
Their going hence,
even as their coming hither:
Ripeness is all: come on.
‘Elves’ troops are dug in.
On the other side.
Of the river.
Just outside Kherson.
– the big city they recaptured.
In November 2022.
Driving the ‘orcs’ back.
Across the river.
No farther, sir;
a man may rot even here.
No farther, sir;
a man may rot even here.
Residents, volunteers.
And officials report that.
As last winter.
As last winter.
Set in snowfall.
Made the danger points.
Harder to see.
Amid intensified mining.
The snow is gone.
But the mines.
People fear.
Are still there.
Away, old man;
give me thy hand; away!
Give me thy hand; come on.
Give me thy hand; come on.
Despite the dangers.
There have been.
Some successful.
Recent evacuations.
Along the ‘Road of Death’.
Along the ‘Road of Death’.
South-west along the route.
Of the Dnipro river.
No farther, sir;
a man may rot even here.
No farther, sir;
a man may rot even here.
“Leaving Oleshky.
Everyone prayed to God.
That we wouldn’t hit a mine.”
Says a man in his 50s.
Terrorised by drones.
And traumatised by seeing.
His neighbour’s body.
Carted away after.
She was hit by shelling.
He says his family.
Finally took the decision.
To leave.
Men must endure
Their going hence,
even as their coming hither:
Ripeness is all: come on.
“None of us.
Could endure it.
Any longer.”
Any longer.”
He recounts.
Being driven out.
In an ambulance.
In an evacuation.
Arranged by volunteers.
Even that was horrifying.
“The entire highway.
From Oleshky.”
“To Hola Prystan’ is.
Littered with burnt-out cars.
Some of them burned.
With people still inside.”
Ripeness is all: come on.
Ripeness is all: come on.
And that’s true too.
And that’s true too.
Satellite imagery.
From November shows.
At least eight.
Damaged vehicles.
On a 1km stretch.
Of the road.
Heading out of Oleshky.
Towards Kardashynka.
Heading out of Oleshky.
Towards Kardashynka.
Which is on the way.
To Hola Prystan’.
As flies to wanton boys,
are we to the gods,
They kill us
for their sport.
There is also what seems.
To be a large scorch mark.
On the road between.
Kardashynka and Hola Prystan’.
On the road between.
Kardashynka and Hola Prystan’.
Which first appeared.
Sometime in late January.
No farther, sir;
a man may rot even here.
No farther, sir;
a man may rot even here.
Verified footage from.
The same period shows.
A badly damaged vehicle.
Which appears.
To have veered off the road;
Possibly corresponding.
To claims that vehicles.
Such as ambulances.
Have been blown up.
Or strayed onto mines.
Have been blown up.
Or strayed onto mines.
As flies to wanton boys,
are we to the gods,
They kill us
for their sport.
Similar scenes are replicated.
Along the E97 road.
To the east of the city.
To the east of the city.
Although satellite imagery suggests.
the damage there.
Dates back much further.
Dates back much further.
No farther, sir;
a man may rot even here.
No farther, sir;
a man may rot even here.
Small trench networks.
Are visible at intersections.
On approaches.
To the city.
Indicating the area.
Is militarized.
But these have also been.
In place for many months.
As flies to wanton boys,
are we to the gods,
They kill us
for their sport.
Her own home was destroyed.
That woman says.
When the Kakhovka Dam.
Further up the Dnipro river.
Was blown up.
Under ‘orcs’ occupation.
In June 2023.
Causing catastrophic flooding.
“I’m in someone else’s house.
Which is also burned.”
“I’m in someone else’s house.
Which is also burned.”
Away, old man;
give me thy hand; away!
Give me thy hand; come on.
Give me thy hand; come on.
She won’t move.
Because there’s no point.
As the destruction is.
Still going on everywhere.
Trees hit by shelling.
You’re told, are at least.
Easier to break down.
For firewood.
No farther, sir;
a man may rot even here.
No farther, sir;
a man may rot even here.
Inside the city.
‘Orcs’ soldiers are believed.
To be holed up.
In buildings.
Hiding from roving.
‘Elves’ drones.
Hiding from roving.
‘Elves’ drones.
“They sit in basements.”
She says.
“We don’t see them.
But they’re there.”
Men must endure
Their going hence,
even as their coming hither:
Ripeness is all: come on.
You have heard claims.
That bodies can lie.
Uncollected for days or.
Uncollected for days or.
In the case of.
‘Orcs’ soldiers.
Abandoned altogether.
By the military to rot.
No farther, sir;
a man may rot even here.
No farther, sir;
a man may rot even here.
The ‘elves’ Parliament Commissioner.
For Human Rights says.
He has appealed.
To ‘orcs’ authorities.
For a “humanitarian corridor”.
To allow safe evacuations.
He accuses ‘Mordor’ of inflicting.
“Deliberate terrorism” against civilians.
As flies to wanton boys,
are we to the gods,
They kill us
for their sport.
‘Elves’ officials claim.
That both civilians.
And ‘orcs’ soldiers.
Stationed in the city.
Have been left to their fate.
By the occupying authorities.
Have been left to their fate.
By the occupying authorities.
No farther, sir;
a man may rot even here.
No farther, sir;
a man may rot even here.
It is difficult to assess.
The degree to which.
‘Orcs’ troops.
Or ‘elves’ drones.
Have left mines.
That have ended up.
Posing a risk.
To civilians.
As flies to wanton boys,
are we to the gods,
They kill us
for their sport.
One ‘elf’ soldier said that.
Ukraine had used mines.
To prevent ‘Mordor’.
From delivering weapons.
To prevent ‘Mordor’.
From delivering weapons.
To its fighters.
Positioned inside the city.
But he claimed.
But he claimed.
‘Elves’ forces keep.
Volunteers informed.
About safe routes.
While he accused.
‘Mordor’ of “scattering”.
Such explosives.
No farther, sir;
a man may rot even here.
No farther, sir;
a man may rot even here.
Some residents say.
They would like to leave.
But that is not necessarily.
The case for everyone.
Elderly ‘elves’.
In frontline towns.
Can be particularly.
Reluctant to swap.
Their homes for.
An unknown future.
Their homes for.
An unknown future.
As flies to wanton boys,
are we to the gods,
They kill us
for their sport.
Another resident described.
Recently seeing a drone.
Hovering right above a woman.
Aged about 90.
“She just looked up.
Waved her hand as if to say:
‘Come what may’.
And hobbled on.”
And ‘vorse I may be yet:
the worst is not
So long as we can say
‘This is the worst.’
*Because I read “To stay or risk the ‘Road of Death’ – Ukrainian civilians trapped in frontline city” by Jessica Parker & Paul Brown on 6 May 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 Ludmilla, a story of Volodymyr, a story of Lubinets, and a story of Hanna, led by ‘KING LEAR’ written by William Shakespeare, you know.
Please read the original story on the BBC news:
