Field Postcard: Rondeau-style

by Vahni Capildeo

Nothing is to be written on this side
except the date and signature of the sender.
Sentences not required may be erased.
If anything else is added the postcard will be destroyed.

So carry marigolds, show sorrow: hide
July war in flowers at home; their code is tender.
Nothing is to be written on this side
except the date and signature of the sender.

April he fell in flames; lilies of the valley implied
humility, poppies oblivion; tender
your papers – no letter lately wounded, no parcel well erased,
apple blossom admitted, rose follows, iris destroyed.

Nothing is to be written on this side
except the date and signature of the sender.
Sentences not required may be erased.
If anything else is added the postcard will be destroyed.

© Vahni Capildeo

Vahni tells us this poem draws on a WWI ‘field postcard, which gave multiple-choice options to be crossed out by the sender, who would then sign and date it, but add nothing else.’ See an example of the Field Postcard at the IWM.