War And Peace - Ww1 - The Red Poppy Poem by Paul Warren

It's just a red poppy but what does it mean?
Made of plastic and pinned on your chest so clean
It is for the brave many who now lie in a hero's grave
In the villages of the dead in France or as Gallipoli's knave

Remember the terrible trench systems which gave them a chance
And what they did then for us meant their reputation was enhanced
They say for those who manned the front line trench
Meant half of them were wounded or killed in the battle clench

We remember their families who long suffered
Some long after the guns in their silence now shuttered
It is hard for us who were not there to know what it meant
To have danger night and day as the enemy sent

Since those terrible days
Others have been called to warrior ways
To defend us when danger is made in answer to the call
And face our enemies to make the historic grade one and all

What we can do now for their sacrifice made
But to hold their memory sacred and not let it fade
So when the bugle blows on Remembrance Day
Know that they are dear in our memory to stay.

© Paul Warren Poetry