Response to “White Paper”

"White Paper" by Hanyu Chen
I created the idea from a song lyric “tearing out the page,” which comes out the ending is back to the beginning. It hints that what the hero does on the page is no longer meaningful to him. The song leaves the question open as to what causes the transition from the meaningful to the meaningless. In my poem “White Paper,” a story is created but hidden, as well as the transition is given. It is seen that he is a military officer and he is writing a letter. However, we do not know who is the receiver. His writing is disrupted at “Love, Your… .” Maybe he is writing to his old parents; maybe he is writing to his beautiful wife; or maybe he is writing to his lovely kids. Here it remains a space for audience to associate. But we all know that it is the one or ones that he loves. The young soldier’s report is the turning point in the poem. We can guess that the apostrophe in the line “… houses were bombed, and no one survived” indicates the bomb site. As soon as the officer hears the report, he tears out the letter, which suggests that the one/ ones he loves right live(s) at the bomb site and is/are died in the accident. It leads to the meaningless of the letter. It is also a harsh transition from happiness to sadness.