there was a time he yearned for naval power
and though enjoying songs of love on the radio
all he felt was bully induced hate
as a fleet of paper drawn warships
cast off to thwart imaginary invasion

there was a time he saw waves of airplanes
darken his childhood sky
saluting them like some infamous dictator
on their way to bomb a deserving enemy
but as the music danced from his father’s hi-fi
he saw no broken bodies
mothers crying for lost sons

there was a time he beat the shyness
with make-believe medals
pinned to his uniformed chest
it was fun to pretend
forfeit the horrors for the glory of war
though as years went by
the love grew stronger
knocking those medals off one by one
into the trenches of memory

there was a time he ran an imaginary superpower
calling it ‘The Government of Chris’
but thanks to adolescent women
his own growing record collection
he gradually shed that earlier self
fleets of paper drawn weapons replaced
by armadas of romance induced words
as a model airplane constructed years ago
adds another layer of dust to its camouflage
a continuing reminder of a bygone era
and the person he could have become

© 1985

610 hits as of December 2023

12/12/2017

Posted on 12/12/2017
Copyright © 2024 Chris Sorrenti