there are those who have never really grown up

[Brian mclaughlin]

they were no more than little green plastic soldiers
outfitted with rifles and ammo belt
as a child they were set up as to be in battle
the foe was unknown
it was just how we played
what fun it was to pretend army

the cold war was waging
the threat of missiles
Russian missiles so close to our own shores
being launched from Cuba brought fear
we were still young and didn't really understand the danger
we continued to play army
marching with sticks we pretended were rifles
ready to take cover in the shelters we made in the vacant field
we were still having our fun
playing army

now grown up
many of my generation sit in congress
they still have their toy soldiers
they're no longer green
the weapons no longer resemble the rifles of our youth
and the toys they play with
are no longer plastic
they continue to put them to battle in other lands
they are still having fun
playing army

[justwalt]

basic training, it was and still is,
down the toy aisle, water pistols and ray guns,
Nerf guns BB guns air rifles AK pellet guns
yada-yada-yada video games fa-getta-bout it...
it's a grave new world today, jump in

peace

[creativesoul]

I liked your piece

[saw]

yeah playing army was big when I was a kid...and cowboys and indians....boys were obsessed with these games....then came all the movies glorifying war....and then I turned 18, high school behind me, and I'm in the Navy...a common scenario for males of that generation

and yes, still here today....goes on and on....and the armament dealers are the only beneficiaries

[Arcadia]

they were no more than little green plastic soldiers

when a was a girl real green soldiers were in our streets every day ... and yeah, belic games were also very popular among boys (also the little green plastic soldiers, my brother, a very peaceful boy, had a lot of them!) ... In these lands kids nowadays (most male) also play belic games in their computers in a both - let´s call it - more abstract and at the same time real way ... but what I could see that resembles to the "artesanal way of playing" of some decades ago is the kids playing to be narco-dealers: they made a complete setup of a bunker and drugs kiosco in the school patio: they used plants of the sourroundings, cut papers and smashed white tiza and occupied a semi-closed space where it was an old faucet ... curious?

gracias for the poem!

[Doreen Peri]

Some people never grow up. That's true.