They wear little badges
Each fastened with a pin
To ties or lapels
Or just to anything;
Pinned there to ensure
They display and show,
So that the other old men,
Other veterans can know
Their like from the crowds
Walking this beach this day
Or just enjoying this clean air,
Or just watching children play.
They wear their little badges
And in little groups just stand,
Realising after all those years
The blood has washed from the sand:
And all those who perished,
All those who ultimately gave
All they had in valour are now
Tucked away in his marked grave
Over which the flags constantly fly.
Flags that match those badges pinned
On the last few here before they too die
They wear their little badges,
Each fastened with a pin
To ties or lapels
Or just to anything,
And they watch the children play
In this long cleansed sand
And maybe for the first time
Some of those old men understand
That many paid the price
So this could be;
For flags to fly on castles of sand
On this beachland that they set free
