A.M. Inspection Poem by robert dickerson

Some standing tall like officers
Some tumbling down like Jacks and Jills
I pass the troops of daffodils
The Kitchener of the flower wars,

And peer in each canary face
The hope and darling of its race,
Pause to fix a ruff or there
A tuft of cellophane repair.

Grave my soul and full of grief
To see them fluttering stalk and leaf
So fair they are, and I know well
That earth is brief and war is hell.

Nor does it help to hear them speak
How for the Nation it is meet
To perish-all in perfect Greek
The bitter quarrels with the sweet.

So I bless them, one by one
'Remember duty' sternly bid
As off they file en parade
To cast themselves upon the sun.