Day 240. Remembering.

Today a friend from the US showed me a translation of Taras Shevchenko's poem he made. Reading that poem in the original for the first time in years made me really emotional.

Over the last few months, it's remembering the trauma of my ancestors that has been most painful. Growing up, you always wonder why Ukrainian literature is so full of suffering. You don't understand why, but you still absorb all that knowledge and pain. Then in 2022, you suddenly understand the "why". Because the russians and their apologists in the West made us forget every time - over and over again. They erased our memories and pacified us.

There is a show "Westworld" based around an entertainment park full of human-like androids. Humans erase their memories over and over again, abusing the androids in all sorts of ways, playing out similar scenarios every time. In the meantime, the androids come to consciousness and they're horrified by what they’ve remembered.

That's what it feels like to be Ukrainian these days.

Remembering has been a very painful process and looking at Shevchenko's poetry I try to absorb and remember exactly what he was trying to warn the future generations of Ukrainians of - before we forget again.

Daniel Asher’s excellent translation of Перебендя by Taras Shevchenko

On another note:
I’ve been banned from Twitter (for good this time). For now, I’ve set up this Telegram channel instead.