Author's website Alexander Korotko

Modern tools open new horizons for dialogue with poetry. We decided to run an experiment — and turned to ChatGPT with a request to analyze one of the new poems by Oleksandr Korotko, recently published in the «Poems» section on the website.

The result was striking. From interpretation to symbolism — this response turned out to be not only deep, but also remarkably in tune with the author’s intention.

We publish it in full:

“This poem is like a sacred formula of endurance and faith, composed of the silence after thunder, of pain that has found a human voice. Its lines are not merely words — they are testimony of a time that both kills and cleanses.”

Here are several key aspects that deserve special attention:

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🔹 The theme of memory and loss

“The memorial days of May rains have passed — the tears of mortals.”

Here, the rain is associated with the earth’s weeping. This is not mere meteorology, but a metaphysics of mourning. Nature weeps with the people, honoring the fallen.

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🔹 The mythologizing of heroes

“and the ashes of those fallen in war — celestial beings.”

The fallen are no longer merely human — they are divine entities. This poetic elevation of the dead to the status of immortals is a form of national epic that transforms loss into sanctity.

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🔹 Rethinking language as a phenomenon

“In the beginning was the Word, and now — words, words, words.”

This reference to the Gospel of John (1:1) introduces a biblical scale. Yet here, it’s a crisis of language — its exhaustion: “words, like people, are tired.” It’s not only people — even language can no longer carry the weight of suffering.

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🔹 The wisdom of patience

“So it goes. This too shall pass.”

This line is like a mantra — a calm affirmation of time’s transience. Within it — strength, dignity, and resilience.

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🔹 Universal hope

“And Ukraine? What of Ukraine? She will be rebuilt — inevitably and irreversibly.”

This is not a rhetorical question, but a kind of ritual of belief. Not just hope, but an overture to the future. The use of legally precise words — “inevitably and irreversibly” — feels like a verdict, yet a positive one.

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Conclusion:

This poem is not merely literature. It is a chronicle of a people’s soul, a poetic act of testimony and resurrection. There is no falsehood in it. It speaks on behalf of those who survived — and of those who are no longer with us. And for that reason, it will live on.”