National Poetry Month: Day 25

Today Kellie posted on Segullah about ANZAC day; it's not a holiday here in the US, and unfortunately tends to go a bit unnoticed. But I appreciated her post as a reminder that the world is a big place, and as a reminder of a time in history that seems to become the distant past even more each year. Whenever I read this poem to myself I can hear it in Thomas S. Monson's voice; I think that General Conference is when I first remember hearing it.

In Flanders Fields
by John McCrae

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.

Comments

Earth Sign Mama said…
Every year I teach a series of lessons about Veteran's Day. We learn about WWI, Armistice Day, the Tomb of the Unknowns, etc. etc. We write letters to veteran, which I mail to someone I know in a war zone. We also read this poem and I tell them about my experience of selling poppies for the VFW when I was a high school student. When you show them the photos of the cemeteries in France and Belgium with the thousands of crosses and billowing poppies, the poem is very powerful.
4/25/2012 10:02 PM
Selwyn said…
Poppies play a big part in the ANZAC memorials - people wear them, they are put on graves and on walls, they are printed on pamphlets etc. They are placed on the lists of names at the Australian War Memorial.One day I'll get to Flanders!

Thanks for the month of poetry - I'll be reading them.

Kel
4/27/2012 8:46 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Happy, Happy Blog-day Foxy Dear

Tomorrow marks the second anniversary of my blog. I had no idea where my life would go when I started this blog, and it's fun for me to read back through the archives and remember feelings and events that I have already forgotten. I think the most surprising thing about blogging that I have discovered is the sense of community. I have about fifty blogs that I follow somewhat regularly; many of them are people I haven't ever met in person. I still consider them to be my friends. I've been very grateful for all the virtual support I've received from so many people who don't really even "know" me. Miss Nemesis recently celebrated her blog's special day by asking lurkers to come out of the woodwork and reveal who they were and how they found her blog. She got 52 comments. If you want to make my day, see if you can top her numbers. Maybe then I can change my blognym to "Queen of the Universe".
Read more

Coming Out in Public

A little over 6 years ago I was on my mission in Madrid. I was transferred to new area at the same time as another elder. I remember asking him if was really from Hawaii, since he was so tall and blonde. We ended up serving together in the same district for nearly seven and a half months and had a lot of good times together. He was actually nice to the sisters and a hard worker, without being too zealous and overbearing. I knew he was going home just a month before me and planning on being an English major when he got back to BYU. When I was transferred out of that area, we exchanged emails and addresses and promised to get back in touch some day, like I did with a lot of other missionaries. I got home in January and started trying to contact some of the people I'd been friends with back in the mission. I emailed this particular elder and found out that he had gone to the computer lab that very day in order to email me. We started emailing each other and talked on the phone a few t...
Read more