It’s Poppy Day
We commemorate the bloodshed
Tides of crimson petals
A nod to the many dead
100 years
Since the First World War
And what have we learnt?
What was it all for?
For we did it all again
In 1939
And I see no glory in either
Just a massive waste of life
War is not the answer
I believe in peace
Sending innocent people off to die
Should be a crime I feel
How can murder
be justified?
And on such an enormous scale?
Where is the honour in that?
For me words almost fail
If we refuse to be used in this way
Refuse to pick up arms
Who would fight the politician’s wars?
Who would come to harm?
Surely if we stand together
The many would outnumber the few
We shouldn’t be made to fight
If we don’t want to
My heart goes out to the fallen
And, yes, we should remember their names
For they paid the ultimate price
For being lured into someone else’s sick game
But I will not wear a poppy
The symbol of a bullet wound
I do not wish to appear as if shot
Blood gushing as I meet my doom
I cannot abide violence
In any shape or form
So I choose not to wear this flower on this day
Or a hypocrite I’d become.