War Poems - by Alexander Korotko (Hardcover)

About the Book

Soon after Russia invaded Ukraine on 24th February 2022, author and poet Alexander Korotko began to set down as poetry the turbulent responses at the emotional, philosophical and simply human levels evoked by the resulting war.

Book Synopsis

Shortly after Russia's invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, author and poet Alexander Korotko began to express his tumultuous emotional, philosophical, and human responses to the ensuing war through poetry. In this volume, we find 88 poems, completed in just under 100 days, that capture the relentless wail of sirens, the experience of seeking refuge in cellars and tunnels, and the transformation of the celebrated Ukrainian steppe under the weight of tanks. The poems mourn the dead, referred to as "our killed, who have become our Guardian Angels", and dedicate entire pieces to Irpin and Mariupol as the atrocities there and elsewhere came to light.

Korotko also shows compassion for the Russian soldier, asking, "Russian soldier, what did you leave behind in my land? We had enough grief without you." He empathizes with the soldier's mother when she receives his body, referred to as "cargo 200". At the same time, he does not hide his frustration with Ukraine's allies, lamenting, "we pay the West for help with blood, but the West is slow to deliver."

Review Quotes

"So here is a record of the reactions of the mind, heart and soul of a poet who felt compelled to believe the unbelievable, to write the unwritable. [...] You are tempted to ask yourself the question that arises when looking at Goya's Disasters of War - how could an artist experience and empathize with this depth of suffering while maintaining the strength and energy to record it so exhaustively, so precisely and with such emotional depth? Part at least of the answer for Korotko must be the love that lives on in spite of the pain." Kate Pursglove, East-West Review

"If you want to know what the war is like for a flesh and blood Ukrainian, a poet of international standing who knows his native country and his people, read this book [...] For all its unevennesses, Korotko's War Poems is a masterpiece that will be read and pondered to futurity." Patrick Miles, Calderonia