Imperial War Museum

Suspended in windless immobility,
Killing machines repackaged as what?
Tourist attraction, life-sized airfix kits?
It’s hard to think men fought in these,
Gave metal life and with it took the life of others.
The tanks below seem more solid,
Like the images on TV screens,
From Tiananmen or the Gulf,
And the rockets. The missiles chill the soul,
Long ranged death aimed at us,
Not for soldiers these warheads but terror,
Indiscriminate and cruel,
Pointed heavenward but aimed at the women,
Who push their children in buggies around the show.