For seventy years he stood proud
Never forgetting
Never really remembering
His momentous defining day
Young, just seventeen
Had to become a man
That decisive day
Delivered to a beach in Normandy
Heavily protected
That difficult day
Men all around blown apart or asunder
He struggled ashore
On that destructive day
They fought and fought
Sandhills and minefields
Never stopping, never giving up
That diabolical day
Now he stands
A cemetery of remembrance
Grateful his Queen came to see
She remembered that day
Today’s politicians not even born
They struggle to relate to
The immensity of death that day
But they came
And duly extolled
Their thanks and
Their feelings on destiny day
Hope that the presence
Of our man
Impresses these leaders
Never, never, repeat
That damned D-day
North Carolina, USA, June 2014
