Velvet Verbosity's 100 Word Challenge - DISTANCE
Even on the front line they bring us letters. They keep us sane. As we cower in the trenches, voices of mothers and fathers, wives and girlfriends play in our heads. Shattered faces betray conflicting emotions as each man responds to his own. Smiles for one. Tears for another. Empty, staring eyes for most. Sometimes they bring us a little closer to home. But as minds drift, the twisted, cloying smell of rotting flesh, overflowing latrines and chloride of lime cruelly reminds us that the distance from loved ones hasn't changed at all. And that for many, it never will.
powerful. I wrote to servicemen during the Vietnam conflict when I was a teen. I wrote to young men in Iraq and Afghanistan as they served. My goal in each letter was to maintain an upbeat and positive outlook. So much darkness was being experienced I wanted to be a light.
ReplyDeletePowerful perspective on the immeasurable distance created by war. Good job with this week's word challenge.
ReplyDeleteA truth so many don't appreciate. Very poignant take on this week's word.
ReplyDeleteI've never taken part in the 100-word challenge but you've made me curious to try. You've managed to capture so much longing and loneliness in such little space.
ReplyDeleteI just can't even imagine, and it breaks my heart to begin to.
ReplyDelete