The "unofficial" start of summer begins on the last weekend in May. It begins with reflection. It begins with gratitude. Gratitude for those who lost their lives serving our nation. It's a different pause for reflection.
Each November 11 we set aside for Veteran's Day. This day is for ALL who have served in our military. In peace or at war. Living or deceased.
Memorial Day is about those who have given everything. In this letter, President Lincoln captures the sacrifice & loss of loved ones.
THE POPPY
The poppy was one of the first things to come back to life after World War 1 and has become a tribute to the departed. The following poems speak to the symbol this flower has become.
“In Flanders Fields”
by John McCrae, May 1915
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
“We Shall Keep the Faith”
by Moina Michael, November 1918
Oh! you who sleep in Flanders Fields,
Sleep sweet – to rise anew!
We caught the torch you threw
And holding high, we keep the Faith
With All who died.
We cherish, too, the poppy red
That grows on fields where valor led;
It seems to signal to the skies
That blood of heroes never dies,
But lends a lustre to the red
Of the flower that blooms above the dead
In Flanders Fields.
And now the Torch and Poppy Red
We wear in honor of our dead.
Fear not that ye have died for naught;
We’ll teach the lesson that ye wrought
In Flanders Fields.
We wear in honor of our dead.
Fear not that ye have died for naught;
We’ll teach the lesson that ye wrought
In Flanders Fields.
Comments (1)