Mutually Assured Destruction

A box on the guardroom table Near the door, just by the wall An innocent looking box Metallic, grey, and small: A knob or switch on the front, Memory at times let’s me down Meant that little gizmo really was The most important thing in town. Sent back to Corps Depot though Nobody then admitted knowing why I enjoyed the period of lazy ease as Days then weeks flowed gently by. Until somebody had this idea, One of typical military flare and style And thus I took command of the , Guardroom and Police for a while. Thus the box on the table, Seemingly innocently asleep, But at a certain time every morning I had to check to its steady bleep. Slow and consistent would signal Just a normal summers day Fast and high pitched would mean Nuclear missiles on their way. A facile exercise really Because all It just meant My last four minutes of life Were about to be spent, Not in anything pleasant like Making love or having a drink Just four minutes left To reflect, to sit and think.. They called it Early Warning in my opinion far too late Just four short minutes to Sit and wait inevitable fate. Mutual Assured Destruction Would release the nuclear hell That the prevailing wisdom said Ensured they’d be dead as well. In the end I didn’t bother To run that little daily test. To help maintain my sanity I thought it for the best. And not long after that Common sense prevailed My time as guard commander Being very abruptly curtailed. Thus for a little while each day With that button under hand I became one of that elite of The most informed in the land As my little box’s bleep told me For now the world was still Ok. Mutually Assured Destruction Not yet winging on its way.