Poppies, daisies
Snow white Lilies
and Roses red
Bundled together
Tied with twine and left on aging graves
Remembrances for the dead
Who dedicated themselves
To service and freedom
And fought for
Our defense
No flowers enough
No tears enough
To pay the price
For lives given on the battlefield
For sacred blood spilled
On the snow at Valley Forge
On the hills of Gettysburg
On the fields of Flanders
In the waters of Pearl Harbor
On the crimson shores of Normandy
On the soil of Korea
In the jungles of Vietnam
On the desert sands of Iraq
In the mountains of Afghanistan
On the battlefields of history
Long forgotten and fading with time.
On this day—
Veterans’ Day, Remembrance Day;
We thank those who have
Guarded us
Protected us and
Served us well;
May we nations today
Remember
The price of war
The price of hate
The price of love
The price of conflict
The price of peace
The price we have paid
And continue to pay.
We must not forget
We cannot forget
The meaning
The sacrifices
The lives
The time
The blood
Given on our behalf.
There are those who will condemn war
There are those who will condone war
But neither must be allowed
To subtract the honor
Bought through
The spilling of the soldiers’ blood--
The sacred blood
That stains our memories
And our battlefields;
Though hidden by
Verdant fields of greenest grass
Peaceful meadows of reddest poppies
Serene waters of deepest cerulean blue
And the sepia touch of time—
The blood still remains.
So bear in mind this day—
And everyday
All that was given to you
And to me
As we bow our heads in silence
In this eleventh month
On this eleventh day
On this eleventh hour;
Let us give thanks
For those brave souls
Who’ve long since gone,
Whose names are unspoken
And unremembered
As time has gone by;
For those brave souls—
Fathers, brothers, husbands
Mothers, sisters, wives
We’ve loved and lost and miss;
And for those brave souls
Who fight on still…
Let us give thanks.
Recipes: Poppy Seed Dressing & Poppy Seed Cake.
In areas of the world on November 11th each year, people wear poppies to remember those who have given their lives in defense of their respective nations. (This practice is mainly observed in England, Canada and Australia...it is traditionally associated with WWI and the Armistice.) Additionally, in some countries, at 11:11 on November 11th, two minutes of silence are observed.
Why poppies? Read on...
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.
— Lt.-Col. John McCrae
You can read more about Remembrance Day at Wikipedia.
Poppy Seed Dressing
1/2 c. fresh lime juice
3 tbsp. oil (you may use canola or olive oil)
2-3 tbsp. honey (I like mesquite blossom honey)
1/4 tsp. poppy seeds (a little goes a long way)
1/4 tsp. Dijon Mustard.
Combine and blend well. Pour over salad.
Poppy Seed Cake
1/2 lb. butter (2 sticks. I use Smart Balance 50/50)
2 cups of sugar
5 eggs separated
2 1/2 c. sifted cake flour (NOT all purpose flour!)
3 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp. grated lemon rind
1/4 c. poppy seeds cooked in 2/3 c. of milk
powdered sugar
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Cream butter and sugar; add yolks and mix well. Add sifted dry ingredients alternately with milk/poppy seed mixture. Add vanilla and lemon rind.
Beat egg whites until they are stiff. Carefully, fold stiffly beaten egg whites into the cake mixture. Pour batter into a tube pan (angel food pan). Bake for an hour at 350 F. Cool cake for about 40 minutes to an hour. Once cake is cool, dust with powdered sugar.
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