I’m not sure if I should say it but I will anyway, I’m not that keen on Simon Armitage’s poem for Ukraine. I’ve read a few poems like it which don’t hit the mark for me. I think it’s because the poet is not there at war and it feels somehow derived, second hand. Maybe it’s the male perspective but I don’t want to think that.

Anyway what can I write but a poem that reflects my experience of the war in Ukraine? And if my conversations are anything to go by, reflects the feelings of a lot of me...