Today we have a poem by Vasyl Holoborodko, a Ukrainian poet beloved for his magical and fairy-tale-like style of poetry.
He’s an interesting character, this Vasyl: Due to his unwillingness to collaborate with the Soviet-era KGB, he was forbidden from publishing his work, and was banned from his university. As a result, he ended up working as a miner, a builder, and then a farmer.
It wasn’t until 1988 that he was able to publish his first collection of poetry and was eventually awarded Ukraine’s top literary prize.
Here’s an interesting fact: President Zelenskyy, back when he just a fictional president in his comedy series, Servant of the People, named his character, Vasyl Holoborodko-after the poet.
The real Vasyl is originally from the disputed Donbas region of Ukraine. Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to locate any information about the whereabouts of Vasyl today. But last reports placed him on the outskirts of Kyiv, in the town of Irpin.
If anyone out there has any news about Vasyl, please let us know!
This poem was included in this anthology, Words for War: New Poems from Ukraine (Ukrainian Research Institute, Harvard University, 2017; translated by Svetlana Lavochkina).
Published in 2017, this is, “I Pick Up My Footprints”, by Vasyl Holoborodko.
Buy the book here: www.amazon.com/dp/1618116665
Read by Clifford Rames.