THE WAR POPPY
Engulfed by crimson, I bow my head;

Your pain and tears wilt me.

In the soil and mud, I found my place;

Where the still of peace embraced thee.
Here I watch over, where others laid;

Weary and rough as I.

Their memory nurtures and sets me free,

So I bloom from where they lie.
I stand strong and unyielding, for I am proud;

Like you, I am blessed and free.

As we remember those who gave,

Their lives for you and me.
‘The War Poppy’ Poem by Jacqueline Hurley (2017)

‘War Poppies’ Painting by Jacqueline Hurley (2017)

‘You Don’t Stand Alone’ by Jacqueline Hurley

“It is a sad day that I have painted another dove on my remembrance painting. Thoughts are with all the families and loved ones –
#WeStandTogether 

The shock and grief have become the foundations of this painting. Over-layered with sorrow and reflection.

The doves are representative of the four innocent lives lost and our hope for peace. PC Keith Palmer stands proud, a hero to us all, he paid the ultimate pride whilst protecting the public and democracy. What unites us is far greater than what divides us – remembrance poppies of solidarity”. 

#PCKeithPalmer #WestminsterAttack #LestWeForget #thinblueline

REMEMBRANCE DAY IS EVERY DAY

by Jacqueline Hurley 

http://www.poshoriginalart.co.uk

  
” For heroes and horses!”.
For heroes and horses, and widows who mourn,

For the single young solder who won`t see the dawn,

For the lonely young lady who waits for her lad,

For the mother who frets when the battle is bad.
For donkeys and ponies who stood to the fore,

And who never did flinch in the blood and the gore,

For dogs and for pigeons, who also took part

With angelic wings and a `giant – like` heart.
For all the young warriors lost to the fight,

Who gave their last breath for the cause of this plight,

For millions of surnames initialled in stone,

Who went to the battle, and never came home.
For heroes and horses, and animals good,

Unblinking, unswerving, who fell where they stood,

The freedom you gave us, your sacrifice made,

Cannot!. – In our lifetime!. – Be ever re – paid!.
Rest in perfect peace my heroes. – I am eternally grateful

to you all. xx ( Heroes and Horses! ). xx

Mick.

( Copyright Michael Westwood 2016 )

Painting ‘For Heroes And Horses, The Poppies Grow’ by Jacqueline Hurley from The War Poppy Collection 1914-1918 http://www.poshoriginalart.co.uk

  
From a little child`s eye. 
” Proud ! “.

I watched you marching proudly, I saw you standing there,

So silent and so solemn, straight and tall,

I saw you with your medals shining, in the autumn air,

But I didn`t understand, – I was too small.

I saw your shoulders stiffen, when the standard lowered down,

And the bugle played that haunting sad lament,

And I noticed that small teardrop, that escaped all on it`s own,

But I couldn`t understand, – just what it meant.
I joined you standing quietly, as you stood there in deep thought,

As you laid that wreath of poppies on the ground,

And again I saw the tears of what those bitter memories bought,

In the sadness of the people all around.
I saw your body straighten, as `Reveille` called to you,

And you saluted, once again, those names in stone,

Then you and your old soldiers, would march off, beyond my view,

Leaving poppies, and that cenotaph, – alone.
I never have forgotten you, because I have come to know,

And understand just why your tears were shed, – in that sad way,

And the thought that you implanted, has rooted, and will grow,

Of you, and your `proud teardrops`, – and our ` Remembrance Day ! `.
 God bless you Dad, and all of your kind, who fought so proudly, and sacrificed so unselfishly, so that we who followed may live in freedom. xxxx. 

Rest In Perfect Peace. (`Stand at ease lads`, – stand easy ` ).

 Mick.

Poem “Proud!” ( Copyright Michael Westwood 2014 ).

Painting “Thank You Tommy Atkins!” by Jacqueline Hurley (www.poshoriginalart.co.uk)

  
FOR THE FALLEN

With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children,

England mourns for her dead across the sea.

Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit,

Fallen in the cause of the free.

Solemn the drums thrill; Death august and royal

Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres,

There is music in the midst of desolation

And a glory that shines upon our tears.

They went with songs to the battle, they were young,

Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.

They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted;

They fell with their faces to the foe.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them.

They mingle not with their laughing comrades again;

They sit no more at familiar tables of home;

They have no lot in our labour of the day-time;

They sleep beyond England’s foam.

But where our desires are and our hopes profound,

Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight,

To the innermost heart of their own land they are known

As the stars are known to the Night;

As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust,

Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain;

As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness,

To the end, to the end, they remain.
Poem ‘For The Fallen’ by Robert Laurence Binyon

Painting ‘For Freedom’s Land, The Poppies Grow’ by Jacqueline Hurley

  
IN WATERS DEEP

In ocean wastes no poppies blow,

No crosses stand in ordered row,

There young hearts sleep… beneath the wave…

The spirited, the good, the brave,

But stars a constant vigil keep,

For them who lie beneath the deep.

‘Tis true you cannot kneel in prayer

On certain spot and think. “He’s there.”

But you can to the ocean go…

See whitecaps marching row on row;

Know one for him will always ride…

In and out… with every tide.

And when your span of life is passed,

He’ll meet you at the “Captain’s Mast.”

And they who mourn on distant shore

For sailors who’ll come home no more,

Can dry their tears and pray for these

Who rest beneath the heaving seas…

For stars that shine and winds that blow

And whitecaps marching row on row.

And they can never lonely be

For when they lived… they chose the sea.

Poem by Eileen Mahoney

Painting by Jacqueline Hurley “Where The Sea Winds Blow, The Poppies Grow”

  
” War – Horse !”.
Can you imagine how they felt, when taken from the field,

To stand before the cannon fire, and never have to yield,

To pull the heavy carriage across the muddied ground,

And to witness all the carnage, – and slaughter all around ?.
It was not for them the choice to make, those horses of the war,

They had to charge the battlements, and the `deaths head ` evil roar,

They stood their ground majestically, and never bent their head,

And when they died, as die they did, – no calming word was said.
They came from field and farmland, from pulling cart and plough,

To meet their death in mud and blood, they took no `loyal vow`,

But without their strength in battle, and the sacrifice they gave,

Many English soldiers, would have met an early grave.
So silent in your majesty, so noble in your death,

So many of you fell for us, and gave of your last breath,

And in your life`s last sacrifice, against war`s abhorrent force,

We pray for you and thank you, – England`s mightiest. – ” War Horse !”.  
 In tribute to all the animals that have given their lives in ANY war in ANY country in the World !.

May God bless you all. 
 Mick.

   ( Copyright Michael Westwood 2014 ).

Painting “For Heroes And Horses, The Poppies Grow” from The War Poppy Collection 1914-1918 by Jacqueline Hurley

COPYRIGHT PORT OUT, STARBOARD HOME POSH ORIGINAL ART http://www.poshoriginalart.co.uk

 
“Peace For Christmas” painting by Jacqueline Hurley  from The War Poppy Collection 1914-1918 (2015)

This poem is based on the famous `football game`, that took place on `No man`s land`, on Christmas Day 1914, during the First World War : 

“TRUCE!”

Could you rise from deepened trenches, with your arms held in the air, 

And walk towards those men you swore to kill, 

Would you leave the thought of `us` and `them`, and the danger to 

beware, 

On that Christmas day, when all was calm and still ?

Would you look towards the `other side`, as `enemy`, or `friend`,

In the snowy, barren, landscape all around,

And pretend that for this one day, that the fight was at and end,

And ignore the barbed wire, laid along the ground ?

Could you look beyond the uniform, to see what lay beneath,

And to find just but a man, when stripped away,

Would you leave your sharpened bayonet still hidden in it`s sheath,

And sing carols with your fellow men that day ?

Would you play a game of football, just as these men before,

And feel peace and freedom singing in your ear,

Could you feel the whole injustice and the stupidity of war,

When the midnight would replace the calm, with fear ?

Could you shake the hand of your `new friend` and go back to your line,

To entrench yourself once more in gory mud,

And could you compensate your moments, of the `truce`, in your 

wartime,

With the thought that you would kill him if you could ?

Poem by Mick Westwood
 ( Copyright Michael Westwood 2014 ).

 Jacqueline Hurley’s War Poppy Collection is her tribute to our Armed Forces and a remembrance to all those fallen and injured in past campaigns. She paints to evoke emotion, reflection and remembrance.

Although Jacqueline’s paintings depict war, she brings an element and sense of peace to her work, this being what we all hope for and what lives have been sacrificed for. She paints from her heart using the stark redness of the worldwide symbol of remembrance – the scarlet corn poppy; to create contrast against gritty impasto, impressionistic landscapes. All her paintings feature silhouettes which often allow her images to become more personal and sentimental to her audience. Jacqueline’s military poppy paintings have quickly become extremely popular and well received since she started painting in October 2014. They have touched the hearts and emotions of many, keeping the importance of remembrance in the forefront of people’s minds.
Jacqueline recently felt honoured to be invited to exhibit the 24 piece War Poppy Collection at The Royal Albert Hall in London, for The Festival of Remembrance 2015.

Jacqueline paints under the title Port Out, Starboard Home POSH Original Art 
#JacquelineHurley #WarPoppyCollection #PoppyPainting #WarPainting #RemembranceArt #MilitaryArt #RemembrancePoppy

“My Knight In Body Armour” War Poppy Collection No.6 (2014)