Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Seas of Red

I have been thinking lately about one of the most arresting and haunting commemorations of the 100th anniversary of the beginning of World War I. Over the past several months, hundreds of thousands of ceramic red poppies have been installed in the moat surrounding the Tower of London. There will be over 888,000 poppies by November 11th. These represent the members of the armies of the British Empire who died during the war. The name of this commemoration is "Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red". Over the weeks, the poppies have "spilled" out of one of the Tower's windows and have gradually filled up the entire moat. In the most recent photos,  the Tower is surrounded by a 'sea of red'.  I am awestruck by the artist's idea for this project and I wish I could actually visit the Tower itself. A moat filled with blood. Each poppy representing someone's father, son, husband, brother, cousin, or friend.

I have hiked through some of the battlefields of World War I in Flanders. I have walked through Tyne Cot cemetery and seen the "crosses row on row". I have visited cemeteries filled with German soldiers' graves. I have stood at the Menin Gate in Ypres and read the names of the missing. No one can stand in those places and be unmoved.

Many, many historians have analyzed and described World War I over the past century. The soldiers and sailors and airmen are now often viewed as pathetic 'victims'.  I choose rather to salute their courage and sacrifice and brotherhood in the face of unimaginable terror and certain death.

How different the 20th century would have been if this had truly been the "war to end all wars", if only the Great War had made us wiser. The sanguinary spectacle at the Tower of London is an unforgettable witness.

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