Lesya Bakun, a Ukranian Refugee, writes of her country under attack giving courage and hope to the rest of the world.
REFUGEE IN MY OWN COUNTRY/ I AM UKRAINE I am Kharkiv. I am Volnovakha. I am Kyiv. I am the blocked Mariupol on the verge of humanitarian catastrophe. I am the completely destroyed City of Shchastia -- That is literally translated as "happiness" -- Where people have to sit in the bomb shelters, Because nothing else is preserved. The Russian troops are not letting them out. I am Ukraine. I am a fighter. I am a refugee In my own country. What's in the minds of Russians? Nine years ago, I was in Strasbourg, France. Seven years ago, I was in Dublin, Ireland. Two years ago, I was in Istanbul, Turkey. Today, I am In an internally displaced people’s centre -- In a city that I cannot even publicly disclose For the security of too many families Who are fleeing to remain safe. "The Ukrainian IT company N has left the markets of Russia and Belarus forever". We should have done it eight years ago. We should have done it thirty-one years ago. A lot of my friends are switching from Russian to Ukrainian. We should have done that thirty-one years ago So that no one comes to "protect us". I am the gasoline that NATO sent us Instead of closing the sky -- Apparently so that we can burn The Budapest Memorandum. We have seen the real face of Russians. Again, They negotiated green corridors And started shelling with heavy weaponry. Evacuation is cancelled. "I wish you survival, Health And the closed sky above you." 07.03.2022 Ukraine
Lesya (Oleksandra) Bakun is a polyglot poet and non-formal educator who resides in Ukraine. She has been writing since the age of 14, in Ukrainian, Russian, and English; her poems were published in the local young poets’ anthology. Oleksandra has the ‘young’ and ‘adult’ periods of her writing life, and challenges of each are vividly seen in the words she’s sharing – both as texts and in poetry readings. Her poems revolve around complex themes like trauma, gender, societal issues, relationships, and mental health.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed are solely that of the author and not of Borderless Journal.
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