Poetry competition CLOSED 25th December 2015 1:07pm
WINNER
Grace (IDryad)
Grace (IDryad)
RUNNER-UP:
anonymouslyhere
Page:
Wartime Correspondence
Poetry Contest Description
Submit 2 pieces of writing for this one--see below for details
For this comp, you'll need to write two pieces and submit them both on the same post, for neatness and keeping them together, as one write is a response to another.
You can write either poems or actual letters, but for both, you must put yourself in the place of a soldier off fighting a war, and their loved one(s) back home. You'll end up with a letter/correspondence from the front lines as well as one from the Homefront --soldier writes home, loved one writes to the soldier.
Pick any war of historical significance--WWI, WWII, Vietnam, any Civil War, Gulf War, go way back to The Crusades if you want, etc. but when writing your pieces, give the reader a sense of what war you chose, what's going on, what the soldier & loved ones are experiencing, etc.
One piece will be a response to the other, two weeks, write alone and play both roles or you can team up with someone for a collaboration and one writer be the soldier and the other write as the person at home. Enter as many times as you want, but keep each set of entries as it's own post.
Ready, set--go!
You can write either poems or actual letters, but for both, you must put yourself in the place of a soldier off fighting a war, and their loved one(s) back home. You'll end up with a letter/correspondence from the front lines as well as one from the Homefront --soldier writes home, loved one writes to the soldier.
Pick any war of historical significance--WWI, WWII, Vietnam, any Civil War, Gulf War, go way back to The Crusades if you want, etc. but when writing your pieces, give the reader a sense of what war you chose, what's going on, what the soldier & loved ones are experiencing, etc.
One piece will be a response to the other, two weeks, write alone and play both roles or you can team up with someone for a collaboration and one writer be the soldier and the other write as the person at home. Enter as many times as you want, but keep each set of entries as it's own post.
Ready, set--go!
Quick addition: you can also write to and from yourself as a soldier and the "you" that was once at home. Any aspect of the war you choose is fine, doesn't necessarily have to be intense combat on the front lines, and you can use real correspondence if you have some, but incorporate it into your writes, so it's not just a copy paste of something else. Just wanted to add those aspects in, per a query I had about this comp.
To my dearest amber:
My dear, war drags on. They say peace talks are grown 'weary', they've no clue what 'weary' is.
Anyway, how's joseph? I cried all damn night on his birthday I cannot believe I've missed both his birthdays.
Jimbo told me to quit being a bitch, I guess he believes in tough love but I saw him sneaking across the compound to render himself in a bottle, it reminded him his kid is aging too, I guess.
I wish we'd waited, I can't imagine as he gets older I'll ever get over missing so much time in his first few years, it kills me, it fucking kills me.
I try not to tell you to much, I hate to keep you in a worrisome state. But I'm stationed at an aid station, I can stand just outside and see fighting some days, there are about a million bullet holes in the building we work in. We get pitiful cases all the time, but this one guy really shook me, he was red with blood, we was clutching his gun so hard he had made marks in his gun, he was in a shock, I kept telling him it'd be alright, but I knew it didn't look good, he died before we could even get him out the door. I had no time to feel anything, casualties were every where, we were almost staking them one on top of the other.
After they stopped pouring in, I set down and just gazed at all the other tired folks, there were still two bodies on the tables whom didn't make it. They died before we could send them to the surgical unit, most that die, that wont ever go home, leave this world here. They are gravely wounded and barely make it here, then die before we can stabilize them, in this blood assembly line. It used to haunt me, but I don't feel a thing anymore, I am in a constant state of alert comatose, if this doesn't end soon, I don't know what we'll do, were so tired our bodies reject sleep. And we've lost doctors here, one stepped out to help unload the supply truck, a grenade went off and a piece of the truck pierced his heart, we got him on the ambulance but the CO at the local surgical unit told us he died during surgery. He had three kids, his wife is disabled, she was in a car wreck, he put in for a hardship discharge, it went through, he would have been home by now, I hope he made it in sprit.
Tell me about home dear, I need to hear what's happening there, I long for you every moment I am here. I love you endlessly dear, I'll be home someday.
My dearest William:
I am sorry dear, It makes me empty to know what you see and go through, Joseph is well, he is speaking a little, it is hardly understandable but its so cute, I know how it kills you not to see him.
I took a job at a malt shop, I came up short on the mortgage, but don't worry dear, Aunt Margret takes care of him during the day. Its a sad day here though dear, Charlie, the man next door, you know? He died yesterday, they're speculating that it could've been a suicide, his son died over there about a month ago, I know it hurt him something awful. It made me miss you in the most bizarre way, stay safe dear, I am counting the days. Please, please stay safe! Your dearest love, Amber.
I wrote this about the Korean war.
My dear, war drags on. They say peace talks are grown 'weary', they've no clue what 'weary' is.
Anyway, how's joseph? I cried all damn night on his birthday I cannot believe I've missed both his birthdays.
Jimbo told me to quit being a bitch, I guess he believes in tough love but I saw him sneaking across the compound to render himself in a bottle, it reminded him his kid is aging too, I guess.
I wish we'd waited, I can't imagine as he gets older I'll ever get over missing so much time in his first few years, it kills me, it fucking kills me.
I try not to tell you to much, I hate to keep you in a worrisome state. But I'm stationed at an aid station, I can stand just outside and see fighting some days, there are about a million bullet holes in the building we work in. We get pitiful cases all the time, but this one guy really shook me, he was red with blood, we was clutching his gun so hard he had made marks in his gun, he was in a shock, I kept telling him it'd be alright, but I knew it didn't look good, he died before we could even get him out the door. I had no time to feel anything, casualties were every where, we were almost staking them one on top of the other.
After they stopped pouring in, I set down and just gazed at all the other tired folks, there were still two bodies on the tables whom didn't make it. They died before we could send them to the surgical unit, most that die, that wont ever go home, leave this world here. They are gravely wounded and barely make it here, then die before we can stabilize them, in this blood assembly line. It used to haunt me, but I don't feel a thing anymore, I am in a constant state of alert comatose, if this doesn't end soon, I don't know what we'll do, were so tired our bodies reject sleep. And we've lost doctors here, one stepped out to help unload the supply truck, a grenade went off and a piece of the truck pierced his heart, we got him on the ambulance but the CO at the local surgical unit told us he died during surgery. He had three kids, his wife is disabled, she was in a car wreck, he put in for a hardship discharge, it went through, he would have been home by now, I hope he made it in sprit.
Tell me about home dear, I need to hear what's happening there, I long for you every moment I am here. I love you endlessly dear, I'll be home someday.
My dearest William:
I am sorry dear, It makes me empty to know what you see and go through, Joseph is well, he is speaking a little, it is hardly understandable but its so cute, I know how it kills you not to see him.
I took a job at a malt shop, I came up short on the mortgage, but don't worry dear, Aunt Margret takes care of him during the day. Its a sad day here though dear, Charlie, the man next door, you know? He died yesterday, they're speculating that it could've been a suicide, his son died over there about a month ago, I know it hurt him something awful. It made me miss you in the most bizarre way, stay safe dear, I am counting the days. Please, please stay safe! Your dearest love, Amber.
I wrote this about the Korean war.
Letters Unread
15th February 1942
Dear Mother
Singapore fell today.
I wish I could deliver this message to you in a better way. Perhaps I should reword that, but that's the only way I can convey to you the truth of what's occurred here. Be that I could share with you glad tidings instead. After just one week of fighting the 'Gibraltar of the East' just fell to the Japanese. There have been tremendous shelling from above, causing severe damage to our depot. Our command did not predict where the Japs would land and the number of soldiers left are small as compared to our accursed enemy. Our command has just surrendered to the Japanese. Our flag with the white colour of cowardice... I fear they would be incarcerated in PoW camps, hardly the Ritz in my opinion.
To think that I should be with you and the family at this time, no matter how cold it must be at home now. This land of endless sunshine and intermittent strong wind and heavy rain; seen to be a land of adventure and opportunity have turned into a fearful hell. I am furious that I a mere clerk with this merchant company here should be trapped in this fearsome situation.
I am now hiding in this miserable office but I know I will not be safe for long. They are scouring buildings in this side of town to get at any 'white devils' that may yet be holed like rats.
Mother, I also want to inform you and father, that I have been living with a girl here, which may be the actual motivation that kept me here after merchant ships left for safer harbour several months back.
She is a beautiful woman of Chinese and Portuguese descent. She had taken care of me during my bouts with the cursed Malaria. She is caring and tender and I have intentions to make an honest woman out of her. Mother she is also five months pregnant with my baby. I hope I will be around to take care of her until our dying day. I however fear that my dying day may be sooner than later.
I therefore beg of you mother, and my family as a whole to accept her as my wife and companion, and for my child to be part of us. Her name is Myra Hwang.
I will hand this letter to her and I hope she will find someone to hand this to, so that it may reach you.
Send my regards to father and also Percy and Lance, the terrible twins...I wonder if they will enlist soon. Turning 18 as they did.
I remain, as always
Your Son
John J. Smith
1st March 1942
Dear John
Oh my son, my son.
We heard about the fall of Singapore, and we prayed and prayed that we would hear from you. In vain. We heard that the British command there had surrendered to the hated Japanese. We are ashamed that he had done so but we hope that with the surrender lives will be spared, if the enemies show mercy.
Here we wait for any news from our children far flung into the world. I wish that I had been more firm with you and not allow you to sail off and work for that merchant company. I find them a little dubious and at times I wonder if they are not slave ships after all. Travelling so far into the East, for spices that I hardly touch.
At this moment, I only want you to be home safe. I pray that you are safe my son and come home soon. Surely clerks are not harmed, they are not soldiers.
Mr Jessup next door is close to being committed to a sanatorium. He has been shouting about conspiracies between good Mr Churchill and that horrible Stalin. His son Albert is at his wits end as to how to deal with his father.
Percy and Lance send their love, as do your father.
I hope you come home soon.
Yours as always
Mother
Gemima L.Smith
>>10th February 1962...It was her wedding day and she had just said her I do's in church. She sat on her bed feeling happy and sad at the same time. This was the happiest day of her life but it was also her mother's tenth death anniversary. This was the day that she would open a gift from her mother; her mother had told her to open it during an important day of her life, when she was dying. She thought her wedding was a very important day and decided to open her gift. What she found were old photographs of her mother and a thin tall Caucasian man, a few letters and a diary. She sat down on her bed and began to read.
An hour later, her new husband walked into the room looking for her and found her sobbing hard into the pillow. He gathered her into his arms...<<
(WWII-the fall of Singapore)
15th February 1942
Dear Mother
Singapore fell today.
I wish I could deliver this message to you in a better way. Perhaps I should reword that, but that's the only way I can convey to you the truth of what's occurred here. Be that I could share with you glad tidings instead. After just one week of fighting the 'Gibraltar of the East' just fell to the Japanese. There have been tremendous shelling from above, causing severe damage to our depot. Our command did not predict where the Japs would land and the number of soldiers left are small as compared to our accursed enemy. Our command has just surrendered to the Japanese. Our flag with the white colour of cowardice... I fear they would be incarcerated in PoW camps, hardly the Ritz in my opinion.
To think that I should be with you and the family at this time, no matter how cold it must be at home now. This land of endless sunshine and intermittent strong wind and heavy rain; seen to be a land of adventure and opportunity have turned into a fearful hell. I am furious that I a mere clerk with this merchant company here should be trapped in this fearsome situation.
I am now hiding in this miserable office but I know I will not be safe for long. They are scouring buildings in this side of town to get at any 'white devils' that may yet be holed like rats.
Mother, I also want to inform you and father, that I have been living with a girl here, which may be the actual motivation that kept me here after merchant ships left for safer harbour several months back.
She is a beautiful woman of Chinese and Portuguese descent. She had taken care of me during my bouts with the cursed Malaria. She is caring and tender and I have intentions to make an honest woman out of her. Mother she is also five months pregnant with my baby. I hope I will be around to take care of her until our dying day. I however fear that my dying day may be sooner than later.
I therefore beg of you mother, and my family as a whole to accept her as my wife and companion, and for my child to be part of us. Her name is Myra Hwang.
I will hand this letter to her and I hope she will find someone to hand this to, so that it may reach you.
Send my regards to father and also Percy and Lance, the terrible twins...I wonder if they will enlist soon. Turning 18 as they did.
I remain, as always
Your Son
John J. Smith
1st March 1942
Dear John
Oh my son, my son.
We heard about the fall of Singapore, and we prayed and prayed that we would hear from you. In vain. We heard that the British command there had surrendered to the hated Japanese. We are ashamed that he had done so but we hope that with the surrender lives will be spared, if the enemies show mercy.
Here we wait for any news from our children far flung into the world. I wish that I had been more firm with you and not allow you to sail off and work for that merchant company. I find them a little dubious and at times I wonder if they are not slave ships after all. Travelling so far into the East, for spices that I hardly touch.
At this moment, I only want you to be home safe. I pray that you are safe my son and come home soon. Surely clerks are not harmed, they are not soldiers.
Mr Jessup next door is close to being committed to a sanatorium. He has been shouting about conspiracies between good Mr Churchill and that horrible Stalin. His son Albert is at his wits end as to how to deal with his father.
Percy and Lance send their love, as do your father.
I hope you come home soon.
Yours as always
Mother
Gemima L.Smith
>>10th February 1962...It was her wedding day and she had just said her I do's in church. She sat on her bed feeling happy and sad at the same time. This was the happiest day of her life but it was also her mother's tenth death anniversary. This was the day that she would open a gift from her mother; her mother had told her to open it during an important day of her life, when she was dying. She thought her wedding was a very important day and decided to open her gift. What she found were old photographs of her mother and a thin tall Caucasian man, a few letters and a diary. She sat down on her bed and began to read.
An hour later, her new husband walked into the room looking for her and found her sobbing hard into the pillow. He gathered her into his arms...<<
(WWII-the fall of Singapore)
Dear Mother,
I am writing to you from Castigleone, just behind the front lines. The enemy have occupied a Mediaevel monestery and are not letting go. Our Entertainment unit performed to the sound of battle, artillary, mortors and gunfire. It was difficult to perform but the "boys" needed us to take their minds off the the battle if only just for a while.
After the show the Officer Commanding asjked that we go down and talk to the wounded in the courtyard.
When I got there, there was a soldier who the medics said thay could not help. He lay there crying out for his mother.
I held his hand and talked to him until he died just before dawn.
He made mrealise how special mothers are and how wonderful you are.
Love Anne
My Dearest Anne,
That must have been a terrible experience but you handled it so well. It makes me oh, so proud of you. I am so impressed by your compassion and your courage, most would have run away, but you stayed the distance.
And I, dear giirl love you. Come home safely to us when this is over.
Love Mother
(PS.She made it out alive and went on to be my Mother. the letters are fiction, the incident is not and it haunted here till the day she died.)
I am writing to you from Castigleone, just behind the front lines. The enemy have occupied a Mediaevel monestery and are not letting go. Our Entertainment unit performed to the sound of battle, artillary, mortors and gunfire. It was difficult to perform but the "boys" needed us to take their minds off the the battle if only just for a while.
After the show the Officer Commanding asjked that we go down and talk to the wounded in the courtyard.
When I got there, there was a soldier who the medics said thay could not help. He lay there crying out for his mother.
I held his hand and talked to him until he died just before dawn.
He made mrealise how special mothers are and how wonderful you are.
Love Anne
My Dearest Anne,
That must have been a terrible experience but you handled it so well. It makes me oh, so proud of you. I am so impressed by your compassion and your courage, most would have run away, but you stayed the distance.
And I, dear giirl love you. Come home safely to us when this is over.
Love Mother
(PS.She made it out alive and went on to be my Mother. the letters are fiction, the incident is not and it haunted here till the day she died.)
This Morning (Christmas Eve 2011)
Dear Future Me,
Remember this.
This morning, i woke up feeling like shit. I hadn't slept that well the night before and I woke up with a crust in my nostrils and a stuffy/runny nose. My skin had a slight ache everywhere, and my eyes burned a little bit. I was craving sleep, but I couldn't go back to sleep because I had watch later in the morning.
I was early, so I had an hour to kill. Well, I needed a haircut so I decided to do that. I had been needing to get one for a few days now and I was in danger of getting called out for it. The barber was pretty good. It felt nice just to get my head shaved. I felt clean.
Afterward, I went to my shop. Nobody was there because it was a Saturday and they had the morning off. I figured I'd write an email or something. When I got in there, I remembered that I had the Rudolph book. It would be awesome if I could read that to Alley, but i thought i should make a video in case i couldn't get a hold of her later on. I began to record it on YouTube.
As I read through the pages, I talked about how Rudolph was born with a red nose and hid it. Then I read about how the other reindeer laughed at him when they found out about it. The book breezes over some stuff that was in the movie. That's a good thing because there really is a lot involved in that little story. It's really much more complicated than you might think. After the reindeer laughed at Rudolph, he ran off and found Hermy. Not long after that, they met up with Yukon Cornelious and got chased by the snow monster. I was having fun reading. There was nobody around which allowed me to get in character a little bit growling as I said words like "snow monster" and "teeth". I was thinking of Alley playing along an pointing in her book.
Yukon, Rudolph, and Hermey outran the snow monster And got away from him by chopping away at an iceberg. When the iceberg gave way, they were floating on the sea leaving the snow monster back on the main land.
Eventually, they got to the island of the misfit toys. As I read about Charlie in the box (you know, instead of jackinthebox) I was thinking it would be cool if alley named her jackinthebox charlie. I read the next line in the book and found myself caught in an unexpected and horrible pause. The misfit toys were worried because they wanted to ride with Santa. They didn't want to miss out on christmas. And as the words left my mouth, I was so taken back by the thought of those goddamned misfit toys missing Christmas that i started choking up. I waited for a second hoping it would pass. It didn't. I stopped the video and put my face in my hands and actually cried. I was actually sobbing right there in my fucking office. It all just hit me so hard. I wanted it to stop, but I couldn't hold back the tears. I wanted so hard to be back home with them riding in the car to the store or something. I just wanted my old life back, and the more I cried the madder I got. I was finally able to end it all by slamming my fist on the and saying aloud, "fuck". With that I sighed deeply and regained my composure enough to take a look at the video.
I looked at myself sitting there with my freshly shaved head and my DCU uniform and I wondered where the fuck it all came from. I guess all the stress and shit finally hit me. I knew I was missing Ashley and Alley as well as everybody else but damn I didn't think I felt it that bad. I don't know, but that weakening cry I had in the office this morning...That was the loneliest I've ever been.
-Moe
Remembering (Dear me)
I remember. And I remember that
That was the least of our suffering there
The loneliness was tough to bear
but it did not compare to what is coming
The numbing we would come to feel
would steal away pieces of our soul
Though we would eventually find a new "whole"
We would never be the same...
that's why I say "we"
because the "me"
that wrote that letter
exists no longer
See, the weakening made me stronger
and though our holey soul would grow cold,
bold love would heal
And what you will come to feel
is only temporary...
So when the time comes
when neither one of us exists
let us remember that love persists
and the reason we went through
all of this
was to realize that truth
so let the lessons of our youth
be the strength for the hereafter
Forget the pain, remember the laughter
We're going to be alright
We're all going to be alright...
Dear Future Me,
Remember this.
This morning, i woke up feeling like shit. I hadn't slept that well the night before and I woke up with a crust in my nostrils and a stuffy/runny nose. My skin had a slight ache everywhere, and my eyes burned a little bit. I was craving sleep, but I couldn't go back to sleep because I had watch later in the morning.
I was early, so I had an hour to kill. Well, I needed a haircut so I decided to do that. I had been needing to get one for a few days now and I was in danger of getting called out for it. The barber was pretty good. It felt nice just to get my head shaved. I felt clean.
Afterward, I went to my shop. Nobody was there because it was a Saturday and they had the morning off. I figured I'd write an email or something. When I got in there, I remembered that I had the Rudolph book. It would be awesome if I could read that to Alley, but i thought i should make a video in case i couldn't get a hold of her later on. I began to record it on YouTube.
As I read through the pages, I talked about how Rudolph was born with a red nose and hid it. Then I read about how the other reindeer laughed at him when they found out about it. The book breezes over some stuff that was in the movie. That's a good thing because there really is a lot involved in that little story. It's really much more complicated than you might think. After the reindeer laughed at Rudolph, he ran off and found Hermy. Not long after that, they met up with Yukon Cornelious and got chased by the snow monster. I was having fun reading. There was nobody around which allowed me to get in character a little bit growling as I said words like "snow monster" and "teeth". I was thinking of Alley playing along an pointing in her book.
Yukon, Rudolph, and Hermey outran the snow monster And got away from him by chopping away at an iceberg. When the iceberg gave way, they were floating on the sea leaving the snow monster back on the main land.
Eventually, they got to the island of the misfit toys. As I read about Charlie in the box (you know, instead of jackinthebox) I was thinking it would be cool if alley named her jackinthebox charlie. I read the next line in the book and found myself caught in an unexpected and horrible pause. The misfit toys were worried because they wanted to ride with Santa. They didn't want to miss out on christmas. And as the words left my mouth, I was so taken back by the thought of those goddamned misfit toys missing Christmas that i started choking up. I waited for a second hoping it would pass. It didn't. I stopped the video and put my face in my hands and actually cried. I was actually sobbing right there in my fucking office. It all just hit me so hard. I wanted it to stop, but I couldn't hold back the tears. I wanted so hard to be back home with them riding in the car to the store or something. I just wanted my old life back, and the more I cried the madder I got. I was finally able to end it all by slamming my fist on the and saying aloud, "fuck". With that I sighed deeply and regained my composure enough to take a look at the video.
I looked at myself sitting there with my freshly shaved head and my DCU uniform and I wondered where the fuck it all came from. I guess all the stress and shit finally hit me. I knew I was missing Ashley and Alley as well as everybody else but damn I didn't think I felt it that bad. I don't know, but that weakening cry I had in the office this morning...That was the loneliest I've ever been.
-Moe
Remembering (Dear me)
I remember. And I remember that
That was the least of our suffering there
The loneliness was tough to bear
but it did not compare to what is coming
The numbing we would come to feel
would steal away pieces of our soul
Though we would eventually find a new "whole"
We would never be the same...
that's why I say "we"
because the "me"
that wrote that letter
exists no longer
See, the weakening made me stronger
and though our holey soul would grow cold,
bold love would heal
And what you will come to feel
is only temporary...
So when the time comes
when neither one of us exists
let us remember that love persists
and the reason we went through
all of this
was to realize that truth
so let the lessons of our youth
be the strength for the hereafter
Forget the pain, remember the laughter
We're going to be alright
We're all going to be alright...
Thanks for the entries, everyone and congrats to Grace as the winner--I was sold on the part about the wedding; nice twist! Anonymous--congrats on runner up and since I couldn't put both Piper and Moe as second runner ups, I'll say that you're both tied for that spot.
