February 17, 2019Poem
There were ships
naturemusicpoliticsmortality
There were ships
Made from cardboard
With bedsheet sails
Firing water cannon
Across a paddling pool
As wide as the seven seas
Pirates carousing
With lemonade
Duelling with plastic swords
Flying paper aeroplanes
Over backyard fences
Invading neighbours
Fighting a world war
In pyjamas
Inventing new endings
With every beginning
Imagination triumphs
Over adversity
As bad guys lose
To boys in white hats
It was a convention
Played out
Beneath dining room tables
With chair leg prisons
Children who knew right
From wrong
Was a choice they made
As an adventure
When everybody
Was a friend
In need of help
If they said they were
The whole world
A playground
Filled with soft toys
And pillows
When no one was hurt
Having fun
What went wrong
When did bogeymen
Turn such dreams
Into a nightmare.