In the Hospital Rooms of My Country
Translated by Ilya Kaminsky and Katie FarrisLetters of the alphabet go to war
clinging to one another, standing up, forming words no one wants to shout,
sentences that are blown by the mines in the avenues, stories
shelled by multiple rocket launches.A Ukrainian word
is ambushed: Through the broken window of
the letter д other countries watch how the letter і
loses its head, how the roof of the letter м
falls through.The language in a time of war
can’t be understood.