Author:
Ksenia Chykunova
“I can’t stop the missiles. But I can make a bird,” says poet Kateryna Mikhalitsyna.
This phrase became the key to the poetry residency held at the Khata-Maysternya (Ukrainian for ‘House-Workshop’) in the Carpathians, where teenagers from across Ukraine came together. Each of them is living through the war launched by Russia in their own way—facing the loss of home, friends, stability, and a sense of safety. But here, they are learning to speak about it—not directly, but through poetry and imagery.
The residency is the final part of the Poetry with Elements of Art Therapy course. It aims to create a space where teenagers can simply be themselves.
This phrase became the key to the poetry residency held at the Khata-Maysternya (Ukrainian for ‘House-Workshop’) in the Carpathians, where teenagers from across Ukraine came together. Each of them is living through the war launched by Russia in their own way—facing the loss of home, friends, stability, and a sense of safety. But here, they are learning to speak about it—not directly, but through poetry and imagery.
The residency is the final part of the Poetry with Elements of Art Therapy course. It aims to create a space where teenagers can simply be themselves.
They’re carrying so much pain right now. And we want to help ease that pain, at least a little. We want to heal, to find a way toward it,
Over the course of a few days, the teens not only wrote poetry—they read their poems to each other, responded to one another’s texts, and gave voice to what would otherwise remain silent.
These kids’ texts are imprints of who they are. Of their favorite words and phrases, sometimes even of their favorite poets, mirrored with deeper shadows or ripples on water. Reflections of what they’ve lived through, of the cities they once called home and were forced to leave,
By the end of the residency, a collection titled Oxygen was born. It will soon be presented by the team at the Book Arsenal—a major cultural event where literary and artistic scenes converge. The book features dozens of voices, each with a unique tone but united by one shared need: to breathe. Because when there’s a war inside you, words can sometimes become the only oxygen that saves.
We cannot stop the war today. But together, we can help children cope with its consequences and begin to heal. Join our mission with your donation.
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