TW: Violence
War
There is no concept of "war". This word was invented to hide behind, like behind a blanket, to wipe the tears of mothers whose children are raped and killed. Behind the word war, as if behind a curtain, the faces of greedy politicians are hidden - and everyone who is ready to exchange other peoples's blood for gold. This is a convenient word that we often hear in the news, it is entwined with numbers and dry facts: “1000 people were killed, the city was bombed at night, hundreds of children were stolen…”. This is a convenient word behind which you can’t see faces, by which you can’t hear names, by which you can’t feel the loneliness of women who have been waiting for their loved ones for years, whose fate is to die. You can’t hear orphans crying in orphanages, you can’t see mutilations of bodies in hospitals. War is a ruthless word. We mark entire nations with it in order to forget about them in a moment. As if evil does not concern us, as if it is dirt that will wash away with rain. We prefer not to notice cruelty, we prefer not to see evil, to forget the past, and that is why wars do not teach anything humanity and repeat over time.
War is just a word, followed by suffering and death, and boundless loneliness when you die, and the world around is just watching. This is a reproach to life itself - the only thing that really matters. There is no excuse for wars. War is a fallacy born out of lust for power and greed. And in the end, there are no winners and losers in it, because the executioners and victims each bleed with their own wounds, although at different times. There is no greatness in war, it is contrived in it, because real greatness cannot exist where there is no life.
We are people, each of us is a part of nature, the great universe, its mysteries and design unknown to us. We have no right to disturb this balance with greed. There should not be a military in a world where people speak a hundred languages and are able to understand words. The life of one person is more important than all the dictators of history! Let’s love life! Let’s value it!
Love
Your blue eyes shine brightly but when I dive into them, I will meet an abyss. I know that that's why I'm just looking at you and hoping…and I stand as if submerged in the water. I haven't dreamed for a long time. I plan my dreams. This is completely different than diving into the world of fiction. I just want to get rid of the feeling of being alone. I am surrounded by thousands. Lean down and whisper the truths of the universe into my ear. Everyone is lonely but we all have the love of our planet. But still, I think, it would be nice to be with you, holding hands and walking together the path that leads us to death. I so want to laugh and feel happiness every day at those things that seem simple to me now. Where are you now my dear? What ghosts are you fighting? Let your confused paths lead you to me sooner.
Me
Dialog
It is impossible to escape from yourself
- and if you climb the highest mountain in the world. And there on the deadly and snowy peak of Everest, will I feel peace?
Wherever we go, we take ourselves with us...
- and if I sit at the helm and sail past thousands of capes and there in the open waters, will I feel free?
You always have yourself and your freedom from birth
- and if I dive into the vastness of the ocean and feel the depth of the Mariinsky depression with my feet, will I escape from the sadness that settled in my soul?
Look inside yourself first, because only in your own infinity can you find all the answers
- and if I fly to Mars on a starship, and there, sifting through the sand of the red planet with my fingers will I find peace?
You can find peace lying in your own bed if you accept yourself, love yourself and stop blaming yourself
- and if I fly to Easter Island in a hot air balloon and stay there alone in a deep cave, will I find peace in my soul?
Yes...because in every journey we find a piece of ourselves.
Anna Yovka is a Ukrainian writer. Her first book “Teide & Teo” was published in 2020. Her stories were published in the Ukrainian literature journal - Dzvin. The story "Dreamland" entered the finals of the international competition "WorkStory: Work in the focus of Literature" (Chicago) and was published in the collection with the same name.
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