I only have one real poem that I can recite from memory, in grade 8 our teacher had us memorize 'Flanders Fields'. As much as I didn't like that teacher at the time, I'm glad we did that. We also did a section on the Beatles so why I didn't like her is a mystery. Anyway, nothing is more fitting today:

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The birds, 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.

- John McCrae