Little poppies, little hell flames,
Do you do no harm?
You flicker. I cannot touch you.
I put my hands among the flames. Nothing burns.
And it exhausts me to watch you
Flickering like that, wrinkly and clear red, like the skin of a mouth.
A mouth just bloodied.
Little bloody skirts!
There are fumes that I cannot touch.
The poppies might still represent happiness.  The ‘wrinkly and clear red’ skin of a mouth could suggest a smile. 
 
 A mouth could also suggest the source of hurting words, in the poet’s world of contradictions and bipolarities, words that appear harmless are potential daggers aimed to hurt and deceive.
Poppies in July