Red Paper Poppy - For Veterans/ Remembrance Day 11th November

Red paper poppy Emblem of the fallen Symbol of the fields wherein they lay Made by those returning From their living hell With broken bodies and shattered minds Colour of their comrades’ blood Worn by the ever grateful Determined that “ Lest we forget” The memory of their sacrifice should ever fade The poppy, living where so many died ~ Freeing those they loved from tyranny A principle wherein loving sacrifice Buys another’s liberty and peace “A war to end all wars”, yet not the case As man’s inhumanity to man continues And nations send their sons and daughters ’Cross seas and continents to fight again While diplomats fail to bring the longed-for peace Mothers weep, families shatter and Small towns lose a generation Those who died must surely wonder why We’ve made so little progress Why the peace for which they died is yet to come Peace among men starts with peace within one human heart