Written on the pavement in Russian,
Дети, Children! Діти. A prayer, a word,
a shout of protection over them, sanctuary,
believing they would be safe,
hiding in their makeshift shelter;
But we should have known our enemy,
the choice they made that day
to butcher the innocents…
This moment of pure depravity, діти,
now regular premeditated murder,
Seared in our memory, but numbed…
The horror become too frequent…
That should have been all we needed, Дети,
for every nation-state to act, to support them,
Evil they loosed that awful day on the theater
their refuge, their hiding place for children…
More than three years later, terror, Дети,
Cancer hospitals, apartment buildings, children
targeted by Russia’s FPV drones, human safaris,
targeting one year olds in Kherson,
daily attacks, the same evil, the same enemy;
But we remain complicit, appeasement, діти,
We draw red lines not to cross,
never fully Standing With Ukraine…
That one act of terror, war crimes, діти,
the inhumanity of Russia, of Putin,
Unrelenting terror, more than mere war,
crimes against humanity, innocent children,
on the hiding place of women and children,
bombing their seemingly safe refuge, Дети!
innocent blood taken that day, in genocide,
and yet we have remained silent…
So long ago now, normalized terror,
But then we watched in shock,
Only a month into the invasion, then,
We learned the truth about Russia,
We should have acted long ago
We should have stood with Ukraine…
Crying, “Дети!”, діти! was not enough
to save the innocent children…
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Edited August 28, 2025
Дети – v4
https://lnkd.in/edYQg62f
March 16, 2022 – Bombing of Donetsk Academic Regional Drama Theatre in Mariupol
Note: Дети is a Russian word, and діти is a Ukrainian word. I included both, because the sign on the ground in front of the Theatre was Russian but the cost was Ukraine’s children. I purposely used Russian, Ukrainian, and English to multiply the pain of that horrible day 4 years ago today in the poem. Many Ukrainians may not like the inclusion of the Russian word, but I pray they understand I included it to reference back to Russia’s inhumanity in attacking children in the sanctuary of the Theatre.
July 8, 2024 – Attack on Okhmatdyt National Children’s Specialized Hospital, Kyiv
April 4, 2025 – Shelling of the playground in Kryvyi Rih
