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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