I went out selling Poppies, because I wanted to;

I wanted to say Thank you, on behalf of me and you.

Those who fight our wars for us often struggle to get by;

We don't do enough for them, I often wonder why.

We live our lives in Harmony; no wars to spoil our Peace;

We really should say Thank you, and our thanks should never cease.

Boys and Girls who need our help, come in many ages;

Some are only in their teens, others wise old sages.

Many others stayed abroad, they wanted to come home;

They left behind their families; Grieving and Alone.

So that is why I went along on cold and chilly days;

To help us all say Thank you, in the simplest of ways.

Buy a Bright Red Poppy and wear it every day,

Then the sacrifice that they all made will never fade away.

 

Lena, 2007

The first donations for artificial poppies were given in Britain on 11th November 1921, inspired by John McCrae's 1915 poem 'In Flanders' Fields'. Every year the Legion mobilises a countrywide network of Poppy Appeal collectors to meet the enormous public demand for poppies - the nation's symbol of Remembrance. The act of observing a Two Minute Silence began in 1919 following the Armistice at 11am on the 11th November 1918 at the end of the First World War.

The Poppy Appeal