Another Variation For The Tin Soldier

he only knows one way to stand:
the tin soldier way
since that's the way he came
in the box at Christmas
with all the others.
then one day
a fairy fussilade dispatched one leg
or part of it I guess
but still he stayed the most valient,
circumspect
propped up in play
forever at attention.
stalwart in the day
and when the moonlight shone
through the room
on the posture he assumed
would always be his.
how could it be otherwise.
till with the wind he scouted from the ledge
too near the edge
beyond his own will and sailed in a paper boat that drowned
till he floated all alone through drainpipes in the town
with roofs of scarlet sugar snowed
under it all and kept his visage fixed
though no one else could know it was his
till one day from the magic fish in the selfsame kitchen
the cook drew him out bye bye drain spouts
refurbished for a little space
to see the steadfast glow on her face
the ballerina too
who waited through and through
till her heart of tinsel and gauze
melted beyond all effect and cause
into a heart of lead
that's what the story said.

mary angela douglas 12 june 2020