:Poppies in Flanders fields

from w
Today is Remembrance Day and there are ceremonies in many countries including Fiji. It is not a celebration in my view but a lamentation because wars are wrong, there is so much death and injury, that there are other ways to settle conflicts. At the same time the greedy and aggressive people need to be put in their place. That is the dilemma for someone who wants to be a pacifist.

The famous poem about Flanders field and poppies came from World War 1.

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.

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It is a good time for reflection in Fiji of the role of the military forces, their function, their purpose, their actions.