An explanation of my poem 'London, 10th July 2005'
07/11/2005 09:19 p.m.
The references - the Poppy refers to "In Flanders Field" by the Canadian poet Col John McCrae. Following the publication of his poem the poppy became a symbol of 'Life' and 'Resurrection': the red petals were the colour of the blood that stained the battlefield; the yellow/black centre represented the mud and desolation; the green of the stem became representative of the forests and fields where generations of men have died to make their land free; the stem itself symbolized the courage of the fallen soldiers. Life and freedom, all in this tiny flower. The single brand plucked out of the air also referes to this poem. The childs scarlet coat on a grey day is a reference to the film of "Schindler's List" (ark) (remember that long shot following a child who is destined for the gas chambers, the red coat the only colour in an otherwise monchrome film?)

The last 3 lines refer to the first world war poet Rupert Brook's poem "the old vicarage, Granchester"

In the UK at least, poppies are worn on Armistice day to mark and remember the nd of WW1. Last Sunday (the date in the title)was national commemoration day in Britain. It marked the final day of 'celebration' of 60 years from the end of WW2, being a halfway point between VE day and VJ day.
On Sunday over London 1 million poppies were dropped from a Lancaster Bomber. Each poppy symbolised a life given during that conflict.

And of course only 3 days previous we had the bombs that went off in London's underground and on a bus...

I guess the rest of the poem is trying to use images to catch the myriad layers of meaning surrounding all these events and memories.