e a m harris

Poetry about poppies

I took this photo of oriental poppies in the summer and thought it would be nice to have a poem or two to go with it.

Googling brought up a large number of websites, but most of them were about war poems. I wanted peaceful, wholesome, summery images.

Persistence wins: I have found a couple.

Wild Poppies by Marion McCready overflows with images. Her poppies are made with ‘henna silks’ and ‘move like an opera’. They wear ‘lipstick dresses’ and are ‘urgent as airmail’. I love the energy of them and the mystery of their lives.

James Stephens, not content with a few poppies, wrote In the Poppy Field.

He writes about a conversation between the poet and Mad Patsy which includes:

An angel walking on the sky;
Across the sunny skies of morn
He threw great handfuls far and nigh
Of poppy seed among the corn;