In a recent article on Literary Hub, Amelia Glaser and Yuliya Ilchuk have shared some of the Ukrainian poet Halyna Kruk’s latest poetry. Her poem “No War” contains visceral snapshots of the war. It also speaks to the choices citizens have to make during a time of conflict to stay alive. Sometimes these choices create deeper rifts than the bombings.
Glaser and Ilchuk explain “No War” further by saying “it is a further indictment of accepting a prescribed role. This poem, written in early March 2022, voices the widely-held feeling in Ukraine that Russian civilians, including anti-war activists, should be held accountable for enabling a regime that is bombing Ukrainian cities. For Kruk, even the threat of prison sentences in Russia cannot be compared to the life-altering reality of families mixing explosives in their kitchens, or commandeering playgrounds to assemble anti-tank “Czech hedgehogs.” The poem is, in a sense, tragic in its rejection of Russian allies.
Some, at the time of this writing, have gone to prison, lost their jobs, or fled their country in protest against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But if Kruk’s poem ignores the sacrifice that some Russian protesters have made, it forcefully illustrates the widespread anger in Ukraine at colleagues, friends, and relatives who remain safe as their government has waged an increasingly violent war on their neighboring country.”
Read the full article here –