In the Poppy Field

I wrote this poem back in the 1990s about the 1914 to 1918 Great War. It's part of my book "Recollections of You" which can be found here.

IN THE POPPY FIELD

Peaceful tranquillity in the place where millions died

Two lonely hearts together side by side

Thinking of the debt we owe to 1918

Fighting for the freedom we now enjoy

Lying in the poppy field just like it always was

When we were much younger and didn't understand

What had gone on before - we could choose to ignore

The freedom we've been bought

In the poppy field - stretching for miles

Two lovers embraced in the warmth of their smiles

In the poppy field where young men lay dead

Alive to the fact of the thing that's been said

For the sake of our pride - we can never ignore

Those who got left behind in the futility of war

Life is so easy to live to the full

When the battle's already been won

Taken on reflection - would we have done the same

Had we been born earlier on?

Lying in the poppy field waiting for battle to commence

The only life for us was in the trench

What we needed to go through - we could not choose to ignore

The fight for king and country for pride restored

In the poppy field - stretching for miles

Two lovers embraced in the warmth of their smiles

In the poppy field where young men lay dead

Alive to the fact of the thing that's been said

For the sake of our pride - we can never ignore

Those who got left behind in the futility of war

1914 - thousands killed

In 1915 - thousands more

'16 to '18 - families left behind

Sons and daughters lying in the poppy field

All for the futility of war

Lying in the poppy field - two lovers entwined

Escaping the problems of the world left behind

Lying in the poppy field where young men lay dead

Would they ever forget what had been said?

For the country's pride we can never ignore

Those who got left behind in the futility of war