Soldier’s Box

 

Wooden box

Lock

Key

 

Brass bullet casing

Spent

Flakes of tobacco

Unsmoked

 

Grains of sand

Sepia tinted photograph

Pyramids

And pith helmets

 

Soldiers Service

And Pay book

Will unwritten

Will not needed

 

Nib encrusted

Fountain pen

Brass button

Coloured ribbon

 

Yellowed letters

Ink a faded blue

Smudged with sweat

And tears

 

Greasy grey box

Cardboard

Seeped with age

Dust covered

 

Crinkled

Opaque paper

Folded once

Around something

 

Silver disc

Bronze star

Silver disc

Heart and soul

 

Key

Lock

Wooden box