Tsunami HiroshiSu (September 15,1996 / Fort Collins, Colorado)

Twenty five soldier boys standing in a line
Twenty five army toys made out of tin
But the last one was broken
Unfinished
Missing a leg
And he stood the straightest
Of them all

His line stood straight
Eyes facing forward
But our one legged soldier
Looked toward the doll house
She was a ballerina
He was a soldier boy
And he loved her

At night the toys come out to play
But our steadfast little soldier
Just longed for the ballerina

Out popped the Jack-in-the-box
Who mocked and scoffed
Why would the beautiful ballerina
Pick a broken soldier?
Any fool could see that Jack wanted her too

But the soldier just ignored him

The next day came
And the little boy set the soldier on the windowsill
But by terrible luck
Or maybe it was Jack
The window blew open and down the steadfast little soldier fell
All the way down

Some boys picked him up and made a boat
Out of paper
And sent him sailing down the Thames

Our steadfast tin soldier stood steady at the wheel
But he wished for the ballerina to stay his trembling heart
Through rapids and down waterfalls
He tumbled
Still standing steadfast at the helm

But the boat was made of paper
And eventually the soggy bottom tore
And down little soldier fell
Once more

But at the bottom of the river
A big fish swallowed him whole
And the tin soldier was trapped in the darkness of a ribcage
For a long
Long
Time

Then mama cut open the fish she was cooking up for dinner
And there was our steadfast little toy
She just smiled and put him above the hearth
And he was happy to be home
For he could see the ballerina once more

But the Jack-in-the-box leered with anger
And maybe it was him
Or maybe just a stray gust of wind
But the soldier fell from the mantle
And into the flames
The wind caught the ballerina too and she joined him in the coals

And in the morning
When mama swept out the hearth
All that was left of the soldier and the ballerina's love
Was a heart
Made out of tin


**Inspired by The Steadfast Tin Soldier by Hans Christen Andersen