lest we forget

yesterday was remembrance day here. there were lots of activites lined up to commemorate the sacrifices of all those who went to war. i missed everything because i was out town. a friend told me a story about a poem that became popular after the first world war, this is usually recited during remembrance day / veterans day / poppy day / armstice day. whichever country you're in. poppies are those red flowers that grew in the graves of the casualties of war, this has become the symbol for this memorial.

i never really understood why people go to war in the first place..

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