Soldiers On Parade Poem by Roy Ballard

Soldiers On Parade



Some preferred the piping men
and some preferred the drums.
There's one who wears a tiger skin.
Magnificent he comes.
With tum-te-tum and tum-te-tum
I skipped along beside the drum.

I preferred the whirling sticks,
the polished leather gear,
the tiger skin, the braided coat,
the splendid volunteer
whose beating drum aroused our cheers
and tum-te-tum for mother's fears.

War came to the piping men
and to the drums came war
which flayed them like a tiger skin
with bloody tooth and claw;
with tum-te-tum and tum-te-tum
they marched away to kingdom-come.

Sunday, December 27, 2015
Topic(s) of this poem: war
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Roy Ballard

Roy Ballard

Grays, Essex
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