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Dear Dad
Dear Dad - Seni Seneviratne
Dear Dad
Does this seem odd? This replying to letters
sent, all those years ago, from a troopship?
What with me not due to be born for another
ten years and you dead now this past thirty.
No matter. I know you, at least, believed in
an afterlife so I’ll hope you are receiving me.
That reference to your trip on the Orama
from Ceylon to England twelve years ago
makes me sorry I never asked you more
about that crossing as well as this one.
How optimistic you sound – that familiar
“glass half-full” attitude that you always had.
One hundred and forty-eight men squeezed
into cramped mess quarters to eat and sleep,
and you’re writing about how the hammock’s
comfortable enough for a good night’s rest.
It’s so typical of you to think of going up on deck
when rough seas made the mess unbearable.
Wrapped up in your greatcoat and balaclava,
did you watch the stars until you fell asleep?
I’ll write more soon. This is just a short note
to say, wherever you are, I am thinking of you.
From 'Unknown Soldiers' (Peepal Tree Press, 2019). Used by permission of the author and publisher.