Standing together
Shoulder to shoulder,
Year after year,
Older and older.
Marching along
To the tune of a song
And the thoughts in my head
Are of those who are dead.

And those who were there
Are fewer and fewer.
But the line is as long
With the newer and newer.
As each conflict stops
Another’s begun
And more of our young
Go to die in the sun.

So I ask, “What’s it for,
Our obsession with war?”
Then the crowds clap and cheer
As our column draws near
And the music gets loud.
With the public so proud
Of our glorious dead,
Are we right in the head?