Poppies

The poppy flower is a symbol of World War I in many countries because they bloomed frequently on the battlefields in Flanders. John McCrae, a Canadian army doctor wrote the world-famous poem "In Flanders Fields" when he saw large poppies blooming on the war graves. The poem goes as follows:

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.