Facts
sleepwalkers and husks
of mans’ ancient power
fill border towns
with hundreds of healthy bodies
ready for war
a century-old fear crawls among them:
hot firearms squeezing against their cheeks
leaving the shore from their mothers, scared wifes
their oldest sons, their tiny daughters
in front of a sheet of paper
drawing our flag and stars in the sky
and in de-occupied yellow fields
and they realize faith put upon men’s shoulders
will sprout boundlessly in every heart
multiplying by hundreds in the speeches of artists
and restorers of our ‘tomorrow’
#
for in faith
you find power
#
for in truth
you find victory
#
Land
It burns, screams and bleeds
among panel ruins –
the country’s heart
humming, knocking
against blackened walls;
the wide fields are alone
as they lull the seeds
of its grief:
the agony
of unsprouted compassion.
Translated into English by Alice Haida and Kateryna Kishchynska.
Author
Taras Ril
Taras Ril is an Ukrainian author. Here are some of his works:
Poetry collection Біла книжечка (The White Book, 2022)
Art book Рефлексія тилу (The Reflection of the Rear, co-author Lviv artist Oleg Kira)
Novel Скажи, скажи: ні! (2024)
Podcast Складочки на літературі (The Creases on Literature, in cooperation with Urban Space Radio)
