Red

"Write a story or poem inspired by an unsent letter discovered in the pocket of a coat at a thrift store. Who wrote it, why was it never sent, and what secrets does it reveal?"

An overcoat just hanging there,

like spare part wear-rôle cast away;

I bought it, fabric, someone’s past,

not knowing owner passed indeed.

For note to Father scribbled there,

recording what he could not say,

despairing words he could not pray,

explaining why, where, when and why.

His Dad confessed to silenced priest,

but what confessed he dare not say -

that secrecy of box betray,

though cost continued, falling prey.

But now the teen would have his say

by giving broken body up;

that priest should know the wherefore, why,

the post too late to interrupt.

Enveloped, in the overcoat,

and chance, before the post-box site,

he crossed that junction, through the red,

before the trucker saw ahead.

The overcoat alone was spared.

Published by Spillwords 7th June 2025 https://spillwords.com/red-by-stephen-kingsnorth/