A dead flower

A carnation is not the kind of flower I would buy and put in a vase on my table.
If I think of this flower I see the face of Prince Bernhard and I cannot say I find him sympathetic.
Might be he once was, although I think he was the kind of man who did what he liked and loved himself most of all.

I met him a few times in Wageningen at Hotel de Wereld on May 5th.
It is that I knew who he was otherwise I might have thought he was a dirty, old man.

Since the 30s, as he still was a student, he had a white carnation on his suite.
Always the same one. It was fake and it lived longer as he did.

If you go to a flower shop and want to buy them there is a simple way to find out if they are fresh.
Just pinch into the green part right under the flower. If it is soft it's old and you won't have much pleasure of it unless you make burial bouquets and grave wreaths.
They are expensive but made as much of possible of old flowers.
They simply cut off the flower, stick some iron wire through it and use it to brighten up a funeral, wedding or hotel.

June 29 was Prince Bernhard's birthday.
During the war, people did wear a white carnation on his birthday. Not to celebrate his birthday but as a protest against the Germans (weird since all Dutch Queens are married to a German Prince).

After the war Veterans' Day was celebrated on May 5th.
As the Prince died, his birthday June 29 became officially Veterans Day and the white carnation the symbol.
It is a day nobody cares about any longer, which means the war was fought for no reason. The freedom so many fought and died for means nothing today.
Nowadays those who love(d) their country and did fight and even died for it are labeled as racists and Nazis. That makes one think.

Today outside on the streets, migrants shout: "Death to the Jews and Americans!"
Our police is doing nothing, they watch. It is fine with them.
We pay them to serve us, but they only act if we defend ourselves, beat us up and put us in prison.

They don't care, the government doesn't so why should the people, the youth, the future, care?
In 20 years time history is wiped out as if it never happened and those who dare to mention the past, use the word freedom will be locked in or get dead penalty.

The picture is a pixabay.com pic.

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I used the prompt carnation.

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