The poppy is now a matter of controversy. Some claim it is a symbol of militarism and a glorification of war. In the parlance of today’s zero-sum dialogue, the poppy is tied to war, war is bad and should be ended, ergo sum the poppy is bad and should be eradicated. In a time when facts matter far less than feeling, this sounds like a convincing argument.
So let’s look at some facts. The poppy as a symbol of remembrance was promoted by an American educator named Moina Michael. She taught at the Lucy Cobb Institute, built in the 19th century to ameliorate the condition of women’s education. She was inspired by the poem In Flanders Fields written by the Canadian battlefield surgeon John McCrae. While treating the wounded at the second battle of Ypres in 1915, which led to the obscene butchery and death of 123,000 people, he learned that his good friend Alexis Helmer was among the slaughtered. McCrea wrote his famous poem while still in the heat of battle. Michael was moved, as generations since have been, by McCrae’s plaintive words. While teaching disabled servicemen in 1918, she began to agitate for silk poppies to be sold to pay for the basic needs of veterans abandoned by their nation after the guns fell silent, as is the case to this day.
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