Three poems by Victoria Amelina, trans. by Larissa Babij

Special Publication of the Ukrainian Institute London
London Ukrainian Review

Three poems

Victoria Amelina*, trans. by Larissa Babij
24 August 2023• Issue Three

Having turned to poetry after Russia’s full-scale invasion, Victoria Amelina infused her verses with records of loss, pain, and perseverance she was exposed to as a war crimes investigator. Translated by Larissa Babij for this issue of the London Ukrainian Review, these three poems open a window onto the Ukrainian experiences of the all-out war.


Testimonies
in this strange city only the women testify
one tells me about the child that disappeared
two talk about people tortured in the basement
three say they didn’t hear about the rapes and avert their eyes
four talk about screams coming from the headquarters
five about people shot in their yards
six speak, but it doesn’t make any sense
seven are still counting their food reserves out loud
eight say I’m lying and that justice does not exist
nine talk amongst themselves on the way to the cemetery

I’m going there too, for I already know everyone in this city

and all of its dead are my dead

and all the survivors are my sisters

ten talk about the man who survived
he too was detained by them
he can testify about the torturers

I knock on his door, but his neighbour comes out
she answers for him:

it only seems like he survived—
go and talk to the women

***
Untitled
See that woman, arm outstretched behind her?
She could be pulling a suitcase or somebody along with her
The invisible suitcase must be heavy, for the woman slows
Women like her are commonly known as wackos

There was nothing left to take from her burned out home
And who lived with her there? Now nobody knows
But they follow her and the little one still lags behind
And so the woman pauses: waiting for him all the time

***

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*Viktoriia Yuriivna Amelina
(Ukrainian: Вікторія Юріївна Амеліна; 1 January 1986 – 1 July 2023), later known as Victoria Amelina, was a Ukrainian novelist. She was the author of two novels and a children's book, a winner of the Joseph Conrad Literary Award[1] and a European Union Prize for Literature finalist.[2]


Amelina in 2015

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Personal life and death
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Amelina had a son in the early 2010s.

As of 2022, Amelina lived in Kyiv.[18] In June 2023, after receiving a residency in Paris, Amelina considered moving there with her 12-year-old son.[17]

On 27 June 2023, she was injured during the Russian attack on Kramatorsk while she was dining at RIA Pizza together with Héctor Abad, Sergio Jaramillo and Catalina Gómez. The restaurant was hit by an Iskander missile.[21][22] Amelina died due to her injuries on 1 July at the Mechnikov Hospital in Dnipro at the age of 37.[23][24] She was buried in Lviv.[17]
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