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Toy Soldiers

I was one of many pretending;
Pretending to be warriors or
Possibly just fighters, the
Playing was of course silly,
We weren't true soldiers and
Many acted as though they were
Superior, but it was of course
Only for a moment in my life;
Some seemed afraid of failure
In that place of pretend wars;
Others were of course knowing
Of the pretending and yelled;
For those very few short days
Mind raced with military chants;
Dozens felt attacked in body
In that place very learning;
Everyone was pretending to be
Leaders, of which none were;
All day we stood synchronized,
Trying to march as one body;
We made many repeated mistakes
Together and in our own minds;
In those pretending days long,
We ran and jumped, we saluted
And thought most thoroughly;
Every minute we vaulted our
Bodies onto the asphalt ground;
The pretending seemed to go on
Night and day it didn't matter;
I made many silly errors daily
Not understanding the expected;
We were of course pretending
On fields of colored smoke;
We flung ourselves off towers,
Towers of wood most tall indeed;
Our lives were in strong hands
But also in each others fully;
I would fly as fast as I could,
Down those ropes made around me;
During those summer days extended
We did make short hectic combat;
Combat that was not thought out,
We made so many painted deaths,
In expansive woods lost at times;
All those summer days pretended
So very enormously in actions;
For a few minutes a toy soldier
Very confused and lost in thought;

5 comments:

  1. Are your poems autobiographical? If so, battle is no place for your sensitive soul...

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  2. how interesting to peep in your world, wonderfully expressed

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  3. I was always a tomboy and this poem reminds me of the games we used to play as kids. We'd build a fort, collect "ammo" like pinecones, acorns, or snowballs and go at it for days. There were loose rules and chains of command. Some days we fought among ourselves instead of with the opponents. Sometimes someone would get mildly injured, I don't think either side ever actually "won" because we weren't that organized or sophisticated to bring things to an end nor do I think we wanted to. Liked it!

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  4. Do i sense pain here??? I could be wrong or u still yearn to be a child? but it is very well expressed...

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  5. Do you speak Spanish?, did you actually read my blog?, if so... that's really cool.
    I like your blog, in fact, i really like it so much, but this piece is so real. I must say, your whole poetry is so full of feeling mixed with this anger... i don't really know how to say it, but this is amazing.
    Keep it good and real. C=
    Congrats!
    -Ilse

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