Challenged to rewrite a poem in someone else's style, I adapted the poppy theme to the opening rhythm of Hilaire Belloc's famous poem, 'Tarantella' ('Miranda'). The melancholy twist resonates with World War I poetry, and the use of poppies on Remembrance Day.

REQUIEM FOR THE 20th CENTURY

Do you remember a field, Ulvana?
Do you remember a field,
Where the poppies dance like a gypsy’s skirt?
Do you remember a field?

Do you remember the sun, Ulvana,
And the wheat like a waving sea,
And the weight of the sky
In the blinding heat,
And the poppies dancing free?

Do you remember the red, Ulvana,
And the black of those gypsy eyes:
Swooning promise of sleep, Ulvana,
Black warmth and midnight skies?

And do you dream of the seed, Ulvana,
Black salt, from the rattling shell?
Dark dust! But the species’ future,
When winter has ended its spell.

All blown away on the wind, Ulvana!
All drowned in the reddening mud!
But sigh sometimes for the dream, Ulvana,
And the flower, red as blood!