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Letters

Posted: Tue Jan 20, 2015 4:31 pm
by Tom Balch
Image

So fine so thin and delicate,
almost transparent
this tiny flower
pressed between
pages sent with love,
from a mud filled trench
in Passchendaele
to the love of his life...
"My dearest darling Abigail"

All his letters start this way
and they end the same...
"Sending all my love
your husband, Richard
xxx until we meet again"

The last of the letters
no pressed flower
sent by Richards friend,
he promised he would let
her know, how and when
Richard met his end.

Re: Letters

Posted: Wed Jan 21, 2015 1:05 am
by Cindy
How empty the feeling, waiting for the day he would return and knowing now he wouldn't. Punctuated sharply by the lack of the flower. Very moving.

Re: Letters

Posted: Wed Jan 21, 2015 2:09 am
by Karin Anderson
The pressed flower as a metaphor is so touching, as the comparison from a transparent tiny flower to a mud filled trench to no pressed flower brings tears to my eyes. Your anti war poems are always exceptional thank you Tom.

Re: Letters

Posted: Wed Jan 21, 2015 11:03 am
by Stella
The lightness and beauty of a fragile pressed flower in contrast to the heavy ugliness of a mud filled trench is perfect Tom to convey the how love can be so cruelly destroyed.
A wonderful poem which makes the reader pause for a few moments in awe of the imagery it portrays..

Re: Letters

Posted: Thu Jan 22, 2015 3:24 pm
by Stella
Love the picture by the way Tom..

Re: Letters

Posted: Thu Jan 22, 2015 3:46 pm
by Nishu
Very stirring and poignant Tom. A beautiful though sad pen.

Re: Letters

Posted: Thu Jan 22, 2015 6:12 pm
by Sandra Martyres
A very poignant piece Tom, that brings the reader to tears

Re: Letters

Posted: Thu Jan 22, 2015 7:43 pm
by Nightmute
A sad and disconcerting end that holds much pain, Tom. Not all stories end happily, I fear, but the beautiful love he had for his wife is not negated by that sad ending, sir. A heart-wrenching write, indeed.