By Nikolay Yarovoy
I know he lived in distant valleys,
In Siberia, where the deep forests stand;
A simple fellow, known as Vanya,
A son who grew without a father's hand.
By thirty years his life had carried him,
Quiet, fair, and steadfast in his way;
He mowed the grass across the open meadows
And wandered through the taiga day by day.
With all his heart he loved his mother,
A silver-haired woman, gentle and wise;
One early morning, at the break of dawn,
He left his home beneath the reddening skies.
He went where danger cast its shadow,
Where blood and tears lay scattered on the ground;
His motherland had called him to defend her,
And so he answered duty's solemn sound.
Amid the fighting he was wounded,
Yet bravely stood beneath the battle's flame;
A hero, bearing medals on his breast,
And earning honor worthy of his name.
And in the quiet of the evening hours,
When guns fell silent and the winds were still,
He wrote long letters meant to bring her comfort,
With hope and courage flowing from his quill.
He wrote unto his gray-haired mother:
"Oh, dearest Mother, please do not weep,
For I am safe after the battle's roar.
The fighting here is fierce and unforgiving,
Yet I remain as steadfast as before.
I serve because it is my sacred duty,
And face our enemies without fear or dread,
So you may live in peace and happiness,
And raise your eyes with pride instead.
A few more steps remain before us,
A little farther lies the road ahead;
We press the foe with unrelenting courage,
And break the spirit of those we have opposed."
A Siberian son once penned these letters,
And years will fade, and centuries fly;
Yet Ivan's valour shall live forever,
Beneath the ever-changing sky.
He was no more than a simple man,
A humble soul from Siberia's shore;
From taiga forests he rose to defend
His mother, his homeland, and all he adored.
Nikolay Yarovoy is an imprisoned Russian-Ukrainian author and human rights defender. In 2023, Nikolay was arrested and tortured by the Security Bureau of Ukraine (SBU) for crimes relating to his work helping civilians flee the war zone, speaking out publicly in support of a peaceful resolution, and opposition to Ukrainian government policy. This poem was penned in a prison in the city of Chernihiv, less than 50 miles from the Russian border. Nikolay has since been transferred to Vinnitsia Corrections Colony (No. 86).
Write to him expressing friendship and solidarity as he fights for his freedom:
Nikolay Yarovoy
Derzhavna Ustanova “VINNYTSIA VIPRAVNA COLONY (No. 86)”
Pryvokzalna Street, Budinok 26
21100, Vinnytsia
Ukraine
Read more about Nikolay Yarovoy here
Have any extra thoughts?