Remember
Remember, remember the eleventh
Of November, when gunfire, shelling
And shot paused for a moment, a telling
Silence. Then gather around the plinth
On which the cenotaph stands, narcotic
Poppies commemorate and mask the blood,
While in their Sunday best the great and good
Make their last post stand before the quick
March past and away from the remaining dead,
Still behind their national flags. No advance,
As around the world echoes of ordnance
Drown out every word of peace ever said.
If, amidst shell-wracked ruins, all hope lies,
Bleeding poppy red, humanity dies.
D. A.