In the poem The Gift in Wartime, Tran addresses an absent person. For example, as she says, "I offer you roses," the person to whom she is speaking is not present and can neither hear nor understand what she is saying. The poem opens with the speaker offering roses and a wedding gown in her husband’s grave. He gives the speaker medals, silver stars, and a badge. These items seem to be less meaningful and personal than the items that the speaker offers.

The speaker offers her husband her youth. He gives her the smell of blood. For the speaker her husband’s offerings are insignificant. The speaker gives her husband clouds of summer. She sacrifices her cold winters and springs for him. He still remains unmoved in spite of these offerings. In return, he gives the speaker lips with no smile, arms without tenderness and eyes with no sight as he is dead.

The speaker deeply apologizes to her husband about her complaint regarding his offerings. She promises to meet him in their next life. She will keep the shrapnel as a token, which will help them know and recognize each other in their next life.