Letters

[Tom Balch]

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.

[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.

[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.

[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..

[Stella]

Love the picture by the way Tom..

[Nishu]

Very stirring and poignant Tom. A beautiful though sad pen.

[Sandra Martyres]

A very poignant piece Tom, that brings the reader to tears

[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.