Memorial Day & Poppies

Poppies in Our Yard on May 27, 2012

Photo by Amy LV

This poem is in the public domain.

Buddy Poppy Given to Hope on May 26, 2012

Photo by Amy LV

 

Click the arrow to hear me read this poem to you.

Students - In the United States, Memorial Day, once called Decoration Day, is a day to remember those who have died in service to our country.  Today many people will decorate the graves of their loved ones and many others will salute veterans in local parades.  Even more people will fly flags outside their homes, thinking about and silently thanking soldiers who have died.

"In Flanders Fields," by John McCrae, is one of America's most famous war poems, and today I am thinking about all who have given their lives in service in war.  My poem is just a quiet moment, a sitting and thinking moment in a cemetery or at the base of a statue, or even kneeling before a small flag or in front of a photograph.

My mother's father, Norman Dreyer, fought in World War II, and we were lucky that he came home.  Not all were so lucky.

You can read a little about Lieutenant John McCrae, writer of "In Flanders Fields," as well as the history of this poem and the symbolism of the poppy, here.  And you can listen to the poem below.

Here is McCrae's poem as a song.

If you would like to download free sheet music for "In Flanders Fields," click here.

No matter our countries, let us all sit quietly for a moment today, honoring the memories of all people worldwide and through history, all people who have died in the name of war. And let us show love.

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Poetry Friday & Daylight Saving Bank

Stonehenge Sunrise

by Georgia LV

Are you used to the time change yet? Over here we're still adjusting our body clocks to the clocks in the world. And my car is still an hour ahead!

Students - today's poem comes to you from the Manuscript Bus Station. Some time ago, I wrote a poetry collection titled IMAGINARY NEIGHBORHOOD, and it's a rustle of poems about places that don't really exist except for in my mind. No, there's not a real "Daylight Saving Bank" or a real "Snowflake Designer's Studio," but in the IMAGINARY NEIGHBORHOOD...there is.

What's the Manuscript Bus Station? Well, it's not a poem. But it's a place where manuscripts wait for someone to pick them up and take them home. Writers spend lots of time visiting the Manuscript Bus Station, checking to see if they got a ride with a publisher.

This poem came from my crazy head and my constant confusion with Daylight Savings Time. The Daylight Savings Bank is a made up place, one I think would be neat to visit in real life. What place do you wish to invent? Go for it! Your imaginary place can come to life in your notebook! Thinking about different times in the year is another way that I find writing ideas.

Today is Veterans Day. Last year, I posted To You on Veterans Day, and today I am especially thinking about those who have served and continue to serve our country. Last Friday, my mother shared this family scrapbook with me - full of letters from my grandpa Norman H. Dreyer to my grandmother, Florence E.C. Dreyer, during WWII. I will be writing about these soon, but today I will be rereading the letters and thinking about my grandparents between 1943 - 1945.

Dreyer Family Letters

Photo by Amy LV

It was such a delight to talk with teachers at last week at Literacy for All about writing history poems in social studies class. This week I've been mulling over many of their comments and stories, and I am excited to continue this conversation at NCTE in a couple of weeks.

Today I look forward to talking with parents at the NYS PTA Convention about "Encouraging and Strengthening Young Writers at Home." If anyone would like the handouts from that session, please just send me an e-mail to amy@amylv.com, and I will be happy to send them on their way to you.

April Halprin Wayland is hosting today's Poetry Friday buffet over at Teaching Authors. Thank you, April!

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To You on Veterans Day - Poem #226

 Small Flag in Wales, NY

Photo by Amy LV

Students - it is clear to see that I wrote this poem in honor of an important day.  Each life is sprinkled with holidays for all as well as private family celebrations, and such special days deserve poems.  For this one, my biggest challenge was striking a serious and grateful tone without sounding sad or sappy.

Yesterday morning at Wales Primary, I had the opportunity to chat with a custodian and teacher in the hallway before the children arrived.  The school custodian held a perfectly- folded flag in his arms, and he gently held it against his chest as we talked.  Our words turned to a young local man, killed this week in Afghanistan, and to the sacrifices our veterans make each day, each hour.  As that gentleman walked outside to raise the school flag to half-mast, we all began our day with honor in our hearts.

Today is Veterans Day.  But Veterans serve all year.  We may not know who they are because they don't wear uniforms and medals when they come home and return to teaching, delivery, medical, construction, and all other jobs.  If you know that someone is a veteran, though, my friend and soldier-mother Lynda says that it means so much when we say, "Thank you for your service."

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