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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
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