PAPER POPPIES

6-11-2006

As Remembrance Day approaches The Stirrer's resident poet Brendan Hawthorne wonders when we'll remember to stop sending young men and women to their deaths of foreign soil.

Paper Poppies

The grip is tight yet rested

and a steel pin rings out

in bugle call clarity

summoning one more push

before final acts

fade behind the eyes

And the journey home

can truly begin

returning to a place beyond

the concepts of borders and

convenient boundary demarcations

A place of shared thoughts

without divided rule

where liberation and freedom

are rights and not distant ideals

Tins are shaken

in the rhythm of charity

and coins drop

one by one into pools of

sweet rain and

bitter tears

in acts of remembrance

so that one day

just one day

future generations

will not have to bury their children

in the bloody battlefields

and howling craters

of inhumanity

the place

where legions of mute poppies

stand resolute

recording lives

remembering names

that scroll around

like fallen petals in winter winds

finding the shelter and compassion

of yet another lapel to adorn

and be recognised

By Brendan Hawthorne copyright 2006

Paper Poppies is featured in the inaugural Poetry Wednesbury publication, also called Paper Poppies,which is out now. Although it is not officially endorsed by The British Legion, a significant contribution per copy (price £2) will be made to their annual appeal. Copies can be purchased directly from Poetry Wednesbury, either through the website (www.poetrywednesbury.co.uk) or by sending an A5 SAE and cheque c/o 25, Griffiths Road, West Bromwich.