Poem The Last Battle

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Another @Jessicalynnt challenge, this time centring on the words Tornado, winds, storm, loss, damage. Poem – The Last Battle The Play-Dough Fort fought the tornado Force of the vacuum cleaner. It’s winds sucked their breath away When they were left lying round at close of play They never had a meaner Foe. There was a command to retreat but no one would go As the plastic army took its stand with great loss To the rubbish bags the boy’s mother would toss Onto the garbage stacks – another of life’s relentless attacks On childhood. The troops knew it was no good Hoping they could escape damage and harm. The same fate befell the civilian farm. In the campaign called Getting too old for fun. The rag-bag army from across the centuries Had faced countless crippling injuries As knights, commandos, Vikings and a dinosaur Wondered whether anything was worth fighting for. A soldier lost an arm, A spaceman lost his gun. There were always less of them after the hoovering was done. The boy was their only hope but he’d found a girl The commander lost the will to hurl His last grenade and made His peace with the men. “A storm is coming. I don’t know when, But many of us are for the chop, Unless we get to regroup at the charity shop. This was a crime against the imagination, Such as is happening across the nation. The kid watched Toy Story but still takes no glory Or joy in his most loyal friends, so here it ends. He has new plug in pals, girls and beer There is nothing more we can do I fear. War is Hell, so is adulthood I hope it leads to something good But right now nothing makes sense There are no more rifles for us to shoot So instead of a twenty-one gun salute Let’s just take a long long moment of silence. “ Arthur Chappell