On this Memorial Day

For my uncles who died in WWII and are buried in Europe, Paul Boyle and Jim Madden, and for my great uncles Joseph Love and Pat Madden who served in WWI, my father Joseph Boyle and my uncles Pete Madden, Tom Madden, Jude Madden and John Boyle who served in WWII and/or Korea, and for all those who have or still do place their lives in peril for our freedom, I dedicate the following verse, written by John McCrae during WWI in May 1915.

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.