Poem: When the war ends
by Kapka Kassabova and Olha Petrenko-Tseunova
Dear Olha,
Dear Kapka,
Thank you for writing. Many friends have left but many are still here. I am here with my daughter Nadija, 1.7 years old, cat and elder parents.
My father cannot move. This is my city, I love it, my friends fight for it and die for it now, and I ask myself—who will be left if everybody goes away? But Russians shoot, our walls and windows shake all day. Nadija is very brave. She endures the absence of walks and fresh air, blocked windows, no favourite foods, constant shelling and sirens, being in shelter, nervous adults.
Dear Olha,
Dear Kapka,
We feel more and more in danger. They shot an evacuation bus, killed six women and one child. They shot an evacuation train, killed a woman conductor. All February, before the invasion, I was working on a project to clean up the river that flows by my house. A friend made a video with my daughter, here’s a link. We had so many plans to make our world better. Why don’t Russians make their world better? I do not know.