The tradition of selling poppies on Memorial Day goes back quite a few years and most people no longer know why. For those that don't, Google is your friend - look it up.
One of my favorite poems is tied to the poppies and Memorial Day. It was written by Lt Col John McCrae - a Canadian doctor serving his country - in 1915. His story is worth Googling as well. This poem, to me, is extremely powerful and the words hold great meaning. If you study the history of the period and the context in which the poem was written, it will blow you away. In fact, it may even bring a few tears to your eyes as it does mine. Each Memorial Day and Veterans Day, I take a few minutes and read the poem a few times and imagine how it must have felt to be Lt Col McCrae at Flanders Field that day. Here's the poem:
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 Fields.
John McCrae, 1915.
