Dear Sir,
“There is no one left here, only me
There is blood between my friends’ lips
Boats are coming
The sea is calm
Again
But I feel like I’ve let you down, my friend
I saw your face, I saw your frown
The symbol of a million men
An honorary make pretend
And we’ve done it once again
My friend
We’ve done it once again
I don’t know how.
I signed up, proud, like you
And now I’m sitting in the sands in the beach in World War 2
Wondering whether you
Ate the same food for weeks as well?
Did the taste make you reach as well?
Now there are only tins of cherries left for me
In sugared syrup, red and thick
Each spoon makes me retch a bit
I used to love my mother’s pie.
But even if I make it back
Alive
I don’t think I’ll ever eat that
Again
There is blood between my friends’ lips now
Red cherries stain their clothes
And it’s only now I think I know
That look upon your face
Are you tasting the same taste you’ve had upon your lips for weeks?
My mouth reeks of cherries
They’ve never been less sweet.
I’ve been on the beach for three weeks now
Waiting for a boat
To come
I’ve written home, to my sister and my father and my mum
And you’re the only one I’ve left to write
It’s cold at nighttime
The sea is clear
A quick note I hope they’ll find
If I die here
I just want to apologise that they did it all again
That there is blood between my friends’ lips
That they didn’t learn from you.
That death means so little to those who told us what to do
The ones that don’t eat cherries here
The ones that point from rooms
And if I make it through
I’ll tell everyone I know
That even sweetness chokes
When all you have to eat is this
And the syrup’s thick with blood.
I’ll tell everyone I love.
If I get picked up
And reach our land
The sea is calm today.
The cherry pips have sunk
Into the sand.
Your friend,
David
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Letter To An Unknown Soldier
Short StoryThis story is a collection of short letters that have been submitted to the Unknown Soldier project. The project is inspired by a statue that stands on Platform 1 of Paddington Station in London, representing all the millions of soldiers who died –...
