war in the basement

we played war in the basement

when I was a young girl

with an ancient doughboy helmet from WWI

liberated from my grandmother's attic

and empty ammo clips and many pairs of earplugs

that came from the first television war -

you remember that one?

the war that wasn't a war

Vietnam

old red ink from a corner shelf

cloths from the ragbag for bandages

Stat!

Incoming!

our hardware was an old bb-gun

that never did shoot right

and cap pistols - of course

we had parades in circles around the washing machine

blowing on a recorder and banging

on a toy xylophone with sticks as hammers

I fear we were rather eclectic in our

historical appropriations

all conflicts were sourced for

our tailor-made assaults

but movies and Walter Cronkite taught us well

the words and deeds we emulated

now I watch

Anderson Cooper and Rachel Maddow

and fear for the future of

the precious wee ones in my life

weighs me down

and I wonder how our parents and

teachers did not expire from the weight

so much sorrow poured in their souls

all the while we played

war in the basement

~ Ellen Apple

12 Jan 2017