The Poppy

All registered Forum users can post bush poetry dedicated to all those who served
Post Reply
Rod Walford

The Poppy

Post by Rod Walford » Sat Apr 19, 2014 8:50 am

The Poppy

AN ANZAC DAY POEM

© ROD WALFORD 2014

I could almost hear the gunfire raining down upon the sand
As the old man stooped to place his poppy with a trembling hand.
He reached not for the cenotaph, nor on the ground beneath;
Instead, he placed it gently in a Regimental wreath.

I pondered on the horrors this old soldier must have seen
In the carnage of the battles in the lands where he had been.
I wondered just how many of his friends were cut to shreds
Or died in bloody agony upon their makeshift beds.

He stood in quiet homage in the silence of that dawn
A tough yet humble warrior as ever had been born.
And then he turned and walked away, and left his poppy there;
A symbol of remembrance in the chilly morning air.

A haunting silence followed, then a piper's lone lament
Rose high upon the breeze and echoed in the firmament.
I watched the old man turn his face toward his family
And silently gave thanks to him for what he'd done for me.

The poppy that he placed that day no longer seemed forlorn
As it rested with the others in that wreath on Anzac morn.
He'd worn it proudly on his chest, with medals he had won,
But in that wreath, the living and the lost became as one.

User avatar
Glenny Palmer
Posts: 1816
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2010 12:47 am

Re: The Poppy

Post by Glenny Palmer » Sat Apr 19, 2014 10:37 am

Really nice work Rod. Thank you for sharing.

Glenny
The purpose of my life is to serve as a warning to others.

Post Reply