On this video: The funeral of Ukrainian body collector Denys Sosnenko has been held in northern Donbas, in Ukraine.
Kurama
(Japan)
POETS AT A FUNERAL
Against a backdrop.
Of muffled booms.
From the frontlines.
To the south and east.
People sank to their knees.
And threw roses.
In front of the van.
As it inched past them.
Then, as the back door opened.
And a wooden coffin was.
Pulled out.
The sobbing began.
He died last week.
When the van he was driving.
Hit an anti-tank mine.
Close to the frontlines.
“My son! Why?”
His mother cried.
Clutching her daughter.
For comfort.
There have been many untimely.
Unexpected funerals.
In this northern Donbas town.
In recent months.
But this one.
Unusually was not.
For a soldier.
Or a regular civilian.
He died last week.
When the van he was driving.
Hit an anti-tank mine.
Close to the frontlines.
A 21-year-old.
Former ‘elf’ national kickboxing champion.
Volunteered last year to work.
As a body collector.
For a charitable organisation.
Who scour the frontlines.
For the abandoned corpses of soldiers.
Both ‘elves’ and ‘orcs’.
He died last week.
When the van he was driving.
Hit an anti-tank mine.
Close to the frontlines.
“There are many angels.
On your shoulders today.
The angels of those.
You brought back home.”
Said the local head of the organisation.
Addressing the crowd.
“Because of your work.
So many soldiers.”
“Who died in places.
No one would ever have looked.
Have been reunited.
With their families.”
He died last week.
When the van he was driving.
Hit an anti-tank mine.
Close to the frontlines.
“He always said.
‘This is my mission.
I have to do this’.
It was dangerous work.”
“But he would reassure us.
Saying ‘don't worry.
We are protecting.
The souls of the dead.’”
“He was always cheerful.
And had big plans.
For life after the war.”
Said his mother.
He died last week.
When the van he was driving.
Hit an anti-tank mine.
Close to the frontlines.
He spoke of the horrors of the job.
Picking bodies up.
Piece by piece.
And he spoke of the constant dangers.
Not just from the war raging around them.
But from boobytraps.
Often hidden beneath corpses.
Allegedly by retreating ‘orcs’ troops.
The team often use drones.
And other equipment.
To search for explosive devices.
Though it happened.
He died last week.
When the van he was driving.
Hit an anti-tank mine.
Close to the frontlines.
But he and his colleagues.
Also talked passionately.
About the importance.
Of their work.
Many of the bodies.
They've collected.
Over the past 11 months have been.
Those of ‘orcs’ soldiers.
Which have then been exchanged.
Across the frontlines.
For the bodies of.
Missing ‘elves’ servicemen.
He died last week.
When the van he was driving.
Hit an anti-tank mine.
Close to the frontlines.
“We feel grace that the body will finally.
Return from the war.”
The other man described his job as bringing.
The dead back from oblivion.
Two young ‘elves’ men had.
The grim task of retrieving.
The bodies of civilians and soldiers.
Killed in this brutal war.
“We feel a sense of grace.
In doing this.
In bringing people home.
To their families.”
Recalling the peace they had brought.
To people who had previously been.
Unable to arrange a proper funeral.
For their missing relatives.
Speaking after his funeral.
In a snow-bound cemetery.
On the edge of Slovyansk.
The other man insisted.
That nothing had changed.
“We are glad.
We were able to bury him.
With honour.”
“He accomplished so much.
In such a short life.
But now we must continue our work.
To bring more people home.”
He died last week.
When the van he was driving.
Hit an anti-tank mine.
Close to the frontlines.
“We will return to work.
As soon as possible.
We will go back.
Even if it costs us our lives.”
The local head agreed.
And added.
“We realise that.
We don't have time to mourn.”
“Because the war goes on.
And so many lads are dying.
They too, must be.
Brought home.”
Painting by Liza Yablonska-Mykhailus.
Source: https://www.koryu-meets-chess.info/
Please read the original story:
Ukraine war: Funeral held for battleground body collector — BBC News
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A poet of Cossack broods over the land.
Not noting a bullet.
Not noting a bullet.
You see a poet of Cossack in Borodyanka."
(Kurama)
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"Коли закінчиться війна,Я хочу тата обійняти,
Сказати сонячні слова
І повести його до хати,
Ти – наш Герой! Тепер щодня
Я буду дякувати Богу
За мирне небо, за життя,
Всім, хто здобув нам ПЕРЕМОГУ!"
Думки українських поетів про рідну країну, їхні відчуття до української землі і нашого народу — все це юні читачі зможуть знайти в представленій добірці віршів про Україну від Ганни Черінь, Юрка Шкрумеляка, Наталки Талиманчук, Іванни Савицької, Уляни Кравченко, Яни Яковенко, Василя Симоненка, Івана Франка, Володимира Сосюри, Катерини Перелісної, Богдана-Ігоря Антонича, Марійки Підгірянки, Миколи Чернявського, Володимира Сіренка, Іванни Блажкевич, Грицька Бойка, Миколи Вінграновського, Платона Воронька, Наталі Забіли, Анатолія Камінчука, Анатолія Качана, Володимира Коломійця, Тамари Коломієць, Ліни Костенко, Андрія Малишка, Андрія М’ястківського, Івана Неходи, Бориса Олійника, Дмитра Павличка, Максима Рильського, Вадима Скомаровського, Сосюра Володимир, Павла Тичини, Петра Осадчука, Варвари Гринько та інших відомих українських поетів.
