Cold War Museum
by David Subacchi

An air of disappointment
Haunts the redundant
Planes and military hardware
That crowd this hangar,
Displayed finally
For educational purposes,
Cheated of deployment
For real or in anger.

The lumbering bomber
With its gaping bay
That would have dropped
Our own nuclear weapon
Squats sadly in the gloom,
Roped off from hands
Eager to touch
Its historic fuselage

And those tanks
Developed too late
For use in world war,
Condemned to action
Only in the occasional
Overseas skirmish,
Sulk in the shadows
Of their final posting.

Yet in contrast
The most secret
Long range, air defence
Craft, rarely seen during
Lengthy working lives,
Recline contentedly,
Enjoying the novelty
Of flashing cameras,
Turning up sensitive noses
At their despondent companions.