Poem by Geoffrey Boot Armistice Day 2010
following a speech at the British Cemetery, Sangatte, France 11.11.10

From our perspective in 2010

The First World War, what and when?

I never set foot in Flanders Field

I never had to shoot, fall or yield

Poppies sprout and gravestones stand

Where young men laughed and fought

Until in an instant in mud and wire

They were by bullets caught

They fought for our freedom

And we no longer see them

Their youth and optimism finished in a second

All for us now in the future I reckon

At this memorial here today

It’s time to reflect on the price we pay