This new haiku collection introduces haikus featuring Ukrainian culture, history, and literature, as well as its people and nature, with parallel haikus about Japanese counterparts where applicable.
Ukraine has a long history of bloodshed events, beginning with the recurrent invasions by the Russians and the Mongols in medieval times. In modern times, Ukraine became intensive battlefields during World War I (the Eastern Front) and World War II (the Eastern Front of the German-Soviet War).
In recent years, in February 2014, Russia invaded the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, which was part of Ukraine, occupied the territory, and unilaterally annexed it to Russia. This was the first territorial expansion of Russia since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Subsequently, in April 2014, Russian paramilitaries seized part of Donbas (collective name for Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts) in eastern Ukraine, which triggered the Donbas War. Then, pro-Russian separationists declared the independence of Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts.
More recently, Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 and occupied four oblasts (provinces) of eastern and southern Ukraine: Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson Oblasts. In September 2022, Russia unilaterally declared the annexation of the four oblasts. As of the third anniversary of this Russo-Ukrainian War, warfare continues and negotiations for a ceasefire are deadlocked.
* * *
The Ukrainians have been devastated by the destruction of their homeland, which had a rich heritage of culture and literature. Notable people who were born in current Ukraine include the Russian novelist Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol (1809-1852), the national poet of Ukraine Taras Shevchenko (1814-1861), the legendary dancer and choreographer of the Ballets Russes Vaslav Nijinsky (1890-1950), who was born in Kiev, the composer Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953), and the classical pianist Vladimir Horowitz (1903-1989).
To observe the dichotomy of the profound cultural heritage of Ukraine and the destruction of the country by the ongoing war is heartbreaking not only for the Ukrainians, but also for people in the world at large.
The essence of haiku is to elevate one's feelings and sentiments to a more objective and larger perspective. This mental engagement can facilitate embracing empathy for others who went through tragic experiences. This could in turn serve as a healing process for the victims of the tragedies.
Under these circumstances, this haiku collection explores the hearts of the Ukrainian people against the backdrop of their history and culture and expresses them in a form of concise poetry with annotations. Specifically, this haiku anthology presents 74 new haikus written by the author with appropriate 'season words' (
kigo that represent the four seasons-made of 12 sub-seasons, such as early spring, mid-spring, and late spring-and the new year that counts as a sub-season) per the Japanese calendar.
