Thousands of innocent children and families have had their homes, futures, and childhoods shattered by war, experiencing insecurity and tragedy on a daily basis.
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Dear Solovy!
Can you give me a handful of soil?
I loved your bright eyes
I loved your light wings
I loved your beak and thin legs
To tell the truth, I loved to fly like you
I loved the open sky
But I am a human being,
I do not have light legs like you
I do not have a light body like you
Dear Solovy!
Why are you not light like you,
To provide food for us like you
Our father used to wake up with you in the morning
When you first flapped your wings
Our mother used to make our breakfast with sirniki;
We also used to wake up with your chicks
And we ran to touch the banks of the Kharkiv River
Really, without wings
I ran with you to pick up the colors of life
But time turned its back,
In a flash before you woke up
Who shook our land?
Who shook our sky?
We were trembling together
We were screaming together
You and your children
We and our parents
We were running together
Who was releasing missiles that fly faster than you towards our settlement?
Who was throwing bombs and ammunition towards our roof?
Our flower garden burned while we were watching
Our garden collapsed while we were watching
Holding an unfinished love letter in her hand
Without even asking – my sister collapsed in front of me
Fighting while fighting with hunger
Tired, my mother collapsed in front of me
Running away while running away from military tanks
Defeated, my father, unable to understand – collapsed in front of me
I kept wishing – I would only be sleeping on the bed of a bomb
I kept wishing – I would only be swinging comfortably on the wings of a rocket launcher
I was learning to fly with you like a white rose, Noor
Playing with butterflies
The sun that was drowning in my own blood became my sister
My friends were falling with their school bags
Smoke was rising from between them
Perhaps they were burning along with the letters
We only asked for a handful of land to stand on
We only wanted an open sky to breathe
But why did you drop bombs on our heads?
Oh United Nations! Is your flag still blue?
Or is it turning red with our blood?
Oh Earth! I fell into your arms without blooming
Dear Solovey! Can you give me
a handful of soil with your beak?
Solovey – the national bird of Ukraine, the nightingale
