The Bleached Bones of Anzac

They were straight of limb as the bullets flew Made up of true blues and fair dinkums too When they landed on that bloody April day They were told to push inland to ensure the stay The fighting was fierce and brave men fell Australian, New Zealander and Turk in the hell The bravest men fought the hardest fight And went inland further than others might They fought and they died showing they had pluck The Turks told of wounded men not giving up Struggling it out to the last bullet they fought And were left lying facing the foe as they ought In the end when they evacuated ANZAC Cove Beach With those brave men lying in the sun out of reach The Turks left them as the sun bleached their bones white As the days turned into months into years as we won the fight In 1919 Charles Bean led the Australians back to Gallipoli And they searched the battlefield from beach to the gullies carefully The bones were gathered and were identified for some As the graves were lined up and headstones stand in the sun These men who came from across the world for a war Are now part of the Legend of ANZAC for all to explore But I wonder on those windy hills where they stayed and didn't flee There are young Australians looking out quietly to the sea. © Paul Warren Poetry