loopyloulaura

Remembrance Day is part of our national consciousness. The red poppy synonymous with the sacrifice of a generation.

2018 is particularly important as it marks 100 years since the end of the First World War and Remembrance Day and Remembrance Sunday coincide so the whole nation can unite in grief, respect and hope.

I will be thinking of my great grandfathers who all survived the war. One was a stretcher bearer who could never tell his family about the horrors he’d seen.

I will remember with sadness the death of my great grandmother’s brother at the Somme aged only 19. She carried his picture in a locket for the rest of her life.

On Sunday I will be proudly watching as Matthew and Anya parade with their Cub and Beavers to a commemorative service and then to the war memorial.

I have written the following poem to convey the horror of war but also the spark of hope:

Shattered dreams lay splintered on the ground.

Destiny’s caress has gathered their souls.

Silence is pierced by agony’s howls.

Faithless hope absconds, descending despair deepens.

The bugle sounds across the years, calling ‘remember!’

Death’s power is overcome, life reigns again,

Poppies bloom where blood once blossomed.

Triumphant peace, victorious love, renewed hope.