Poppies in prose

On May 2 in 1915, Canadian poet John McCrae’s close friend and former student Alexis Helmer was killed by a German shell in World War I.

Composed at the battlefront on May 3, 1915 during the second battle of Ypres, Belgium, this poem became the basis for poppies being the flower symbolically used to honor the war dead.

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place: and in the sky

The larks still bravely singing fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead: Short days ago,

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved: and now we lie

In Flanders fields!

Take up our quarrel with the foe

To you, from failing hands, we throw

The torch: be yours to hold it high

If ye break faith with us who die,

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders field

American professor Moina Micheal conceived of the Flanders Field Memorial poppy in 1915 to decorate the graves of American soldiers. In 1919 her fame spread to such an extent she was known as the “Poppy Lady”.

In 1920 the poppy was made the official memorial flower of the American Legion and the Auxiliary in 1921. In 1924, the Legion started the national poppy program, where paper poppies are made by disabled vets to be sold to honor veterans of wars. The disabled vets are paid for each poppy they make and materials are supplied free of charge. The proceeds from buying these paper poppies go to Veterans Affairs for rehabilitation of vets and to help their families.

Symbolism of the Poppy is as such for the American Legion: The red petals stand for the vast outpouring of blood given by veterans; the green and black center, the mud and desolation of all battlefields. The green of the stem is symbolic of the forests, meadows and fields where generations Americans have perished to make this land free. The stem represents the courage and determination of our fallen warriors. The assembled product, a flower, is a symbol of resurrection which is sure to follow.

The following poem, written by an unknown author, is also used by the American Legion Auxiliary to make Americans aware of the paper poppy’s importance to vets.

Only a Paper Poppy

Only some paper petals

With two leaves of paper, too.

Only a paper poppy

Does it mean anything more to you?

The red is for the courage

Of men who fought and bled,

And then came back to spend their days

In the ranks of the living dead.

The green of the leaves reminds me

Of the sunny hillsides over the sea,

Whenere rest the war torn bodies

Of those who died that war might cease to be.

The cup that is formed by the petals

Covers a heart of gold.

It stands for a labor of love

Whose value can never be told.

Only a paper poppy

But it holds the hopes and fears

Of numberless men and their loved ones

As they carry on through the years.