Yellow Letters

 

When my grandad passed away

We found beneath the floor

A beat up, sturdy wooden box

We’d never seen before

 

The reason that we found it

Was a floor board out of place

It was sticking out and I tripped up

And landed on my face

 

I could tell it was important

And I removed it with great care

Grandad loved us all so much

What would he hide down there?

 

Mum looked surprised as I was

As she opened up the lid

Slowly then, her tears rolled down

As she found out what he hid

 

Her face had turned from flush to pale

As though she’d seen a ghost

So many yellowed envelopes

He never meant to post.

 

Mum said that Grandad never wrote

While serving in the war

And all these papers sitting here

She’d never seen before

 

We sat and read together

Sharing tears and love as well

My grandad never wrote of war

As it was nothing short of hell

 

He couldn’t say the words out loud

But these letters had ensured

That maybe one day later

We would know what he’d endured

 

We placed them back into the box

And closed the lid up tight

I felt my grandad was at peace

When I fell asleep that night

 

For though he never posted them

Those letters got him through

For the final one said ‘War is done!

I’m coming home to you’

Sioban Timmer

• Submitted in response to Poetry Prompt #12

Sioban said: I just recently received copies of my Grandad’s war medals and have a special box to place them in, I think that put the idea to the front of my mind.