Arts

Reading Time: 3 minutes
Students write poems for Remembrance Day
Photo by Sean Campbell

 

ANOTHER REMEMBRANCE DAY is about to come and go. As Canadians get ready to remember previous wars fought and current ones ongoing, some U of O students decided to take this time to write poems inspired by this special day. Whether it’s images of Flander’s Fields or visions of the war in Afghanistan, the writers were inspired by what remembering means to them.

 

Are the Poppies Still Blowing?

Are the poppies still blowing

On a windy day?

Are the larks still singing

When there’s nothing left to say?

I wonder whose side they were singing for.

I suppose there is just dismay

In a sky of war.

 

How many crosses

To win a war?

How many poppies

Were there before?

I’m sorry you couldn’t hear the larks,

Over the gunfire galore.

 

I hope you sleep

Lieutenant McCrae,

I haven’t lost my faith.

I pin my collar every year

With a velvet flower

For your fear

For your pluck

And for your pride

My every step and every stride

Is safe because of those who lie

In Flanders Fields.

Megan McLaren

 

Remember

The clock stands still while we stand

And I stand in remembrance for those who can’t

 

It’s the eleventh hour of the eleventh day

In this moment I remember roles they have played

Fallen Canadians who valiantly fought

Forever remember what they have brought

 

I remember what I have not seen, but know

Seasons change, years pass, and poppies continue to grow

 

As the horn blows and we are brought into silence

I remember images of yesterday and today’s violence

 

Wars are still fought and peace far from achieved

But on this day we remember and it is gratitude we give

—Sofia Hashi

 

I won’t forget

 

“I won’t forget,” is what I say

It’s what I promise on this day

Yet with each passing week

My memory grows weak

 

The day becomes a distant memory

Foggy and an indistinct reality

 

“I won’t forget,” I fervently promise

It’s the eleventh again and I have forgotten

The oath I swore becomes nothing but words

Words I say but don’t do and lie unheard

 

The day has become a distant memory

Foggy and an indistinct reality

 

“I won’t forget,” because the truth is I can’t

Dying soldiers aren’t of the past

But a sad picture that has been cast

 

So say you’ll remember

Wear your poppy forever

Invisibly engraved within your mind

Don’t let another Remembrance Day

Become a distant memory of the mind

Sofia Hashi

 

Remembrance Day

The True North Strong and Free

Indeed we are Free

Because of Thee

 

You birthed on this Canadian soil

You died for this Canadian soil

We will Never Forget your Toil

 

We Stand on Guard for Thee

Moving forward from where you lay still

We Shall Fight till

Your Dreams became Reality

 

Today we Celebrate Fallen Soldiers

All who died so we could Live

We Revel In Your Victory

We Honor your Bravery

Our Memory we shall surely Give

To our Children and Theirs for all years

God Keep Our Land Glorious And Free

Oh Canada!

We Stand On Guard For Thee!

Tiolu Adedipe

 

 

In Fields Where Poppies Grow

 

Brave soldier, standing tall,

The guardian of peace;

You left home at 17,

a child with a hero’s dream.

 

Brave soldier, unafraid

of combat, of the terrors

in this wasteland, this

hell that we call war.

 

Brave soldier, full of courage,

Protecting freedom for us all.

You fought battles, wounded men,

You killed, and were killed.

 

Brave soldier, gone too soon,

Your sacrifice will live

forever in the memories

of those you left behind.

 

Brave soldier, lie in peace.

Now you can rest,

where the birds sing once again

In fields where poppies grow.

Kiera Obbard