Red poppies
Red poppies pinned above left breast.
Lost meaning: that old call of "Lest
we forget." The privileged's bet. Bright points stand out, though made a jest,
complicit now in mocking mess
of past tests. They spurn a debt. Debate on elite stage the cause
of wars, drowned by polite applause
to old hate. This they abet. Red poppies here from memory wrest'd
of pain and wars and so much death,
so they repress. (The perks of being un-oppressed!) When unaffected they make guests