31st
We celebrate Remembrance Day in November, but I welcome another opportunity to pay tribute to those who gave their lives to serve their country.
John McCrae was a doctor and soldier who served in WWI. One of his best friends died at Ypres. The poppies in the fields of Belgium reminded McCrae of the blood-soaked ground of his field hospital. I would like to share his poem with you. This will be from memory, so all the words and punctuation might not be perfect. By the way, I had picked the photo before I decided to do this. It’s titled “In Flanders Fields”.
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.
I love this poem for the story behind it and for its sentiments. I hope it will be meaningful to you as a gift for Memorial Day, my American friends.
