Poppies
The true colour of venous blood
Sun dried tomatoes
Red chilli and sun-set skies
Poppies
Remind me always of
Victorian rouge
Fire engines post boxes and children’s toys
Poppies
Are always there when I close my eyes
Perfectly juxtaposed against
Children in pushchairs and widowed wives
Poppies
Pinned to the chests of so many survivors
Veterans and additional like-wisers
Purposely included here lest we forget
Are the cynics and the do-gooders
Each reflected in the shimmer and the glare
From whitewashed graves
Always remembered
What else is there to say
Unlike the Somme Passiondale or Ypres
Let there always be another day