Subject: From the Frontline, With Love
Fan Mail from Joe to Nelly
Dear Nelly,
I hope this letter finds you between melodies and miracles. I know itโs been a long time since I last wrote, but some letters are meant to cross warzones, not timelines.
I can’t avoid the front line in Bosnia forever. The ghosts are restless again in Sarajevo, and the drums of war still echo faintly in the valleys. I hear them at night like a rhythm no DJ would ever spin, but theyโre there, buried under snow and silence. Maybe thatโs why Iโve booked a session with my old psychiatristโRadovan Karadzic. Say what you will about him, but at least he doesnโt worship at the feet of the American Gods of War. He sees the fractures in the mind like cracks in a Balkan mountainโinevitable, but survivable.
Nelly, itโs Medjugorje or madness. Wedding or war. The choice stands in front of us like two doors. One swings open to peace, to a humble vow beneath the Queen of Peace’s statue. The other? Another blacklist. Another silence. You canโt avoid the blacklist forever either, just like I can’t dodge Bosnia much longer. You know what I mean. The powers that be don’t forgive love songs that outshine their war drums.
Iโm not asking for salvationโjust a sign. A bird, a balloon, or even a broken radio playing “I’m Like a Bird” in static. I’ll take anything. Because even here, in the cold whisper of conflict, your voice still carries like a secret hope.
Donโt forget me.
Yours in peace or pieces,
Joe
Somewhere between Sarajevo and Medjugorje