ROCHESTER, N.Y. — You may spot a few poppy flowers this Memorial Day. But it may be surprising to learn that the poppy flower gets its significance from a poem.

"In Flanders Fields" was written by World War I Colonel John McCrae, a medical officer with the First Brigade of the Canadian Field Artillery. The poem captures the sense of grief upon the sight of dead soldiers throughout Flanders Fields in western Belgium and northern France.

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.

Veterans of Foreign Wars members from across the state volunteer annually and distribute poppy flowers to local communities for any donation amount, remembering the bloodshed and lives lost in war.

"It's always great when 6- or 8-year-olds come up, and they've got some of their own money, and it's $0.50 or $0.75, and they want to use their money to get a poppy," said Mike Cialini, a former all-American commander for the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 8495 in Fairport.

All donations go to help veterans and their families.