Dear Dorothea

Bonnie Goodfellow

So sad: that your one great poem -
first penned in nineteen four,
then published in ’08 -
is all we now remember.

For your family, life and loss
were so much more than this:
Core of your heart was, in fact,
more than your country.

The "great" war gave your poem fame
yet stole life and strength from your kin.
On behalf of our country
we say “sori” – to you and yours lost.

One hundred years late,
we are sorry for all you suffered,
for all family traces lost from war;
more, that your poet’s voice was lost in war's shadow.