Shades of red

In shades of red
The poppies bloom.
Acre upon acre
Hundred upon hundred,
Thousand upon thousand,
Million upon million,
Their defiant petals
Rouse in our souls
Remembrance.

We cannot imagine
The mud, the blood,
The lice, the pain,
The loyalty, the pride,
The courage, the fear,
Every shade of human feeling,
Together in hell,
Brotherhood.
For King and Country.

Falling in a moment,
Or suffering for ever,
John, William, Thomas,
Oliver, Michael, David,
James, Edward, Max -
Fathers, sons, husbands
A generation cut down
Never to return.

In shades of red
The poppies bloom.
Remembered still.