Wouldn't you like
to send the bill
for th effects of WW2,
on all of us, to somebody?
my miserable childhood,
spent, painfully, piecing
together th shards
that were my father,
we thought our father
was wilful, unpredictable,
a little crazy, at times,
out of touch, incapable
of understanding,
just when empathy
was needed th most,
something was amiss,
we had to tell him
th simplest things
over and over,
bridging th ruptures
left by his ECT,
he was responsive,
went along, enthusiastically,
basking in our love for him,
we were lucky. After WW1
many came home, to live out
th rest of their lives
shell-shocked,
in turmoil, reliving
th horrors they lived thru
again and again, out of sight,
and away from their children.
nice! I hope you're going to submit that to the anthology. I think the civilian experience of war is the most powerful.
ReplyDeleteThanks, I'll work on it a bit more but will send it!
DeleteVery moving x
ReplyDeletethank you.
DeleteDear Jeltje, I've read this many times since you first posted it, hesitating to write a quick response, and now I find that it grows more intense with each reading. The personal meets the imagined, sometimes in a nice beach resort, sure, but I hope that you were really that lucky girl whose father responded to the love that surrounded him. War or no war, many are not given those joys to remember.
ReplyDelete(P.S. My own bill for the shit that has happened just in my lifetime is as long as your arm. I'm just waiting for a few addresses to send it to. They can squabble about the terms of payment.)
ReplyDelete