#childreninconflict
IVAN 10 years old – Zaporizhzhia - 2025
***
I was in first grade when the war began,
Instead of school bells, sirens filled the air
I never knew how frightening it could be
Running to shelters, no more dreams to share.
What if it hadn’t happened? What if that day
We’d just woken at eight, missed school, gone to play?
What if my mother’s face showed smiles, not tears?
And we didn’t know to hide when danger nears?
What if cars just moved normally down the street,
And planes took off for beaches, warm and sweet?
Each evening we’d cheer when Dad came through the door,
We’d sit and laugh together, wanting nothing more…
We’d visit Grandma in Berdyansk by the sea,
Never knowing how much pain there could be
We’d look up at skies that bring only peace,
For happiness, we need just simple things…
Just to sleep through the night in our own warm bed,
No families torn apart by what lies ahead
Passenger planes flying freely overhead,
And war existing only in dreams instead
This is another poem from the book Poems for peace.
Apr 2
Apr 2, 2026 at 2:55 AM UTC
BY VIKTORIIA 12 years old - Kryvyi Rih - 2025
***
With pencil, in silence, I write these lines
For you, as war rages on and grinds
For thousands of days, as darkness deep
Has swallowed our world in shadows steep.
With whispers of hope, ‘midst the thunder of guns,
I search through my words for solace that comes
Through ruins and flames, in cold dawns breaking,
Dreamy lines in my notebooks I’m carefully making…
With pencil, in secret, I’m sketching the spring
Where flowers will bloom when peace takes wing,
Where you’ll return like a bird to blue skies,
And never again shall pain make us cry!
May these lines, like the morning’s first light,
Pierce through the darkness to your distant shore
My voice in the silence, for you, ever bright,
For faith in love is stronger than anger’s roar.
You can download the Booklet at this link.
https://www.unicef.org/ukraine/en/poems-peace
Apr 1
Apr 1, 2026 at 3:01 AM UTC
BY VIKTORIIA 12 years old - Kryvyi Rih - 2025
***
With pencil, in silence, I write these lines
For you, as war rages on and grinds
For thousands of days, as darkness deep
Has swallowed our world in shadows steep.
With whispers of hope, ‘midst the thunder of guns,
I search through my words for solace that comes
Through ruins and flames, in cold dawns breaking,
Dreamy lines in my notebooks I’m carefully making…
With pencil, in secret, I’m sketching the spring
Where flowers will bloom when peace takes wing,
Where you’ll return like a bird to blue skies,
And never again shall pain make us cry!
May these lines, like the morning’s first light,
Pierce through the darkness to your distant shore
My voice in the silence, for you, ever bright,
For faith in love is stronger than anger’s roar.
Mar 31
Mar 31, 2026 at 8:51 AM UTC