Maggie Cobbett

 

Very saddened by the horrific events unfolding in Ukraine, I’ve just been looking at some photos of happier times. Aged nineteen, I joined a group of fellow students in an epic road trip that included two of the cities currently under attack. Above, you can see me (long hair and striped frock) gazing up at the Taras Shevchenko (poet and writer) monument in Kharkov/Kharkiv.

 

 

One of my happiest memories is of crossing the pedestrian suspension bridge in Kiev/Kyiv leading to the ‘island of recreation’.

 

 

Here are some of my friends enjoying a sunny afternoon on its beach. We were later joined by a group of young soldiers from the Red Army, all in uniform and anxious to remove their boots and foot wrappings. (No socks in those days!) Conversation was difficult, but there was a lot of laughter and swapping of souvenirs.

 

Not a religious person, I can’t promise to pray for peace, but I hope with all my heart that it will return, and very soon. In the meantime, I shall be donating all the royalties from my ‘Had We World Enough’ collection to a charity supporting suffering Ukrainians.