Ilene Bauer Poet Rhyme

Shelter Drills

In school, we practiced what to do
In case there was a fire.
We’d quickly exit, silently,
As teachers would require.

But there were also shelter drills,
(I’m talking decades back)
Where we would hide in case there was
A nuclear attack.

We’d crawl beneath our desks and wait
Until the signal bell
Would chime to let us know
We could come out, since all was well.

I don’t know who decided
That this plan made any sense,
For from a bomb, a desk would not
Provide the best defense.

Yet nowadays, a drill won’t be
From any H-bomb threat,
But from kids with guns and that’s a fear
We haven’t conquered yet.

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Terry Flood February 20, 2024 at 2:55 PM I don’t recall ‘nuclear’ drills but you’re right about being saved from an H Bomb blast by a desk. Futile is the word that springs to mind. Ironic that today that same desk may give some protection from the nut-job with the gun. Alas… a poem for the times - ‘enjoyed’ nonetheless.

Tom Cunningham February 20, 2024 at 1:16 PM The world has gone mad Ilene, as a kid growing up in the 60's I was oblivious to the shadow of nuclear weapons and only as I got older did I realise how close we got with the Cuban missile crisis. Guns and knife crime are something else for sure. Tom