Victoria is Remembering the Past, Hoping for the Future - Poppies on November 11th

In Victoria, BC, starting November 5th and until November 11th, from 10:00 am - 4:00 pm the Royal British Columbia Museum, in downtown Victoria, is hosting a week of Remembrance. Featured are community displays and Veterans' talks. There will be a special Remembrance Carillon recital on Tuesday, Nov. 11th at 12 noon.

The significance of the Poppies that are worn during this week dates back to the worst battlefields of Flanders during World War 1, and to Canadian military physician, poet and author John McCrae's poem "In Flanders Fields".

I found a copy online:

by: John McCrae

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.

According to my parents, and although I can't find a reference to it at the moment, the poppy is supposed to be worn on the left hand side of a lapel, i.e. closest to the heart.

David