The Fallen.
How many lie, their memory cloaked
in the love that knows them still.
They live on in the petals of a poppy,
carried on the hearts of those they
cannot know, yet gave their lives to save.
© sweetwater 2023
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How many lie, their memory cloaked
in the love that knows them still.
They live on in the petals of a poppy,
carried on the hearts of those they
cannot know, yet gave their lives to save.
I love poetry like this, that says so much in a few well chosen words. It is a skill and one you naturally exhibit in so much if your work.
I was going to say “in the heart “
Rather than “on the heart”
then I realised that we wear the poppy pinned to the area of the heart.
What would our fallen think of today’s world I ask myself.
It’s just as well they did not live to see their sacrifices were all in vain ( IMHO)
Good to read you again Sue
Alison x
Hi Alison, so good to hear from you again, I was beginning to feel rather lost on this site lately, so few submissions. I miss all the names I knew so well and the inspiration I found in their work. I didn’t realise a poppy was supposed to be worn on the left because it’s over the heart, until just before Remembrance Day. I have Mike Verdi to thank for my minimalist way of writing, he took me under his wing and made me ‘cut out all unnecessary words’ I still hear him saying it every time I write. And… Read more »
Oh I am so sad to hear of your loss. I understand fully. It happened to me when my cat Pushka aged 19, could not cope with my latest move. A sense of disbelief descended, then excrutiating loss. I beat myself up that I had moved after being 15 years in my last house but he had weathered three moves before that. If he had only been able to stay 6 more months to get me over the worst but he was worn out. For three weeks I sat on packing cases waiting for furniture, the garden a windswept reflection… Read more »
Oh, Alison what a dreadful time you’ve endured, There are always so many ‘if only’s, and we torture ourselves constantly going over and over them in our minds. My neighbour had a lovely tabby cat called Pushka when I was a child, I had never heard it before or since, until now, I thought it a lovely and unusual name. I’m so pleased life is finally turning right side up again for you. I’ve never heard of Milo’s breed, but I love the images it conjures up. Like my little dog Fudge another companion makes life bearable again. The era… Read more »
Hi Sue, I see that you have been valiantly posting on this site that I thought was defunct but it is now functioning again.
Your short poem about the legacy of the First World War and the memory of the victims of that atrocious conflict reflects well the emotions everyone feels and it is also a reminder of the misery that wars bring. It is wise to remember Churchill’s famous quote:
” Jaw, jaw is better than war, war>”
Luigi x
Thank you Luigi, lovely to hear from you. It was a very quick write I wanted to capture it before it wandered back out of my mind again!
I cannot understand the mindset of those that would do anything no matter how atrocious, to steal the land of others.
Much better to try and resolve things by words not wars. sue x.