What's that fluttering in the breeze?
It's just a piece of cloth
that brings a nation to its knees.
What's that unfurling from a pole?
It's just a piece of cloth
That makes the guts of men grow bold.
What's that rising over the tent?
It's just a piece of cloth
that dares the coward to relent.
What's that flying across a field?
It's just a piece of cloth
that will outlive the blood you bleed.
How can I possess such a cloth?
Just ask for a flag my friend.
Then blind your conscience to the end.
The conversation between the two voices is reaching a conclusive end. The younger, more naïve voice, asks the final question to the older voice. The former represents young men who are  ‘brain-washed’  — not by torture or mindless indoctrination but by more subtle methods involving stimulating patriotic pride — into volunteering to fight.
Flag