In Flanders Fields the poppies grow
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.
And one for Canela Cruz, in Iraq now...
Ashbah
The ghosts of American soldiers
wander the streets of Balad by night,
unsure of their way home, exhausted,
the desert wind blowing trash
down the narrow alleys as a voice
sounds from the minaret, a soulful call
reminding them how alone they are,
how lost. And the Iraqi dead,
they watch in silence from rooftops
as date palms line the shore in silhouette,
leaning toward Mecca when the dawn wind blows.
Not to nitpick a lovely post but it's actually "In Flanders field the poppies blow"
ReplyDeleteI love the poem.
ReplyDeleteAs a poet myself, I think you've done a disservice to the authors. You should give credit to the poets who wrote these poems: Canadian WWI veteran, John McCrae, in the first instance and American Iraq war veteran, Brian Turner, in the second instance.
ReplyDelete