An old, discolored teddy bear sat on his unicorn

And waited as the night began to fade,

He checked his magic sword and shield and thought about the morn,

The secret battle plans already laid.

The enemy was waiting somewhere out there on the rise,

This battle had been many years in coming;

The Toys versus the Darkness, children’s happiness the prize,

He heard the distant muffled sound of drumming.

Darkness had been spreading with its sad and gloomy sigh,

All around the World its doleful tune,

Making kids forget that childhood passes quickly by,

Causing them to grow up far too soon.

Toy boxes were staying closed, the kids too sad to play,

As bad news swirled around them in abundance,

Mums too busy, Dads too worried, living day to day,

Toys lay in the cupboard in redundance.

The toys had waged a secret war, for years now they had schemed,

With undercover raids against the foe,

Spreading smiles and laughter anywhere small children dreamed,

Striking back against the undertow.

Now, this final showdown, two great armies, one on one

The sun came up, and as it softly glowed

Teddy lifted high his sword, it glinted in the sun,

The time was now – the place: Storybook Road.

Then they came, the lines of goblins endless on the hill,

Murder in the eyes of every one,

This was Darkness’ chance and it was hungry for the kill,

Orders had been given: Mercy? - None!

Teddy waved his sword and then a droning, flying flock

Came diving from the sky, a deadly throng,

Airfix fighter planes with guns a-chattering: tockatock

Sending goblins back where they belong.

Teddy waved the sword, a squad of puppets hit the line,

Then ran back as the enemy gave chase,

The puppets pulled their strings and with a huge collective whine

A hundred goblins fell flat on their face.

Suddenly, ten Tonka dozers – dusty, faded yellow

Burst out from the waiting ranks of toys;

They sped along the road with one enormous throaty bellow,

And goblins ran away, scared of the noise.

A band of goblins came up on the flank, no lookouts nigh,

They crept up on the toys like sneaky foxes,

Then suddenly, the whole platoon was flying through the sky,

With help from several buried jack-in-boxes.

 Then Teddy saw the Dragon, and his heart it skipped a beat,

He hadn’t known this monster had existed,

With scorching breath of fire, he could feel its searing heat,

As all around the trees and grass were blistered.

Teddy closed his eyes, they’d tried, but Darkness held the hand,

The children of the World would never know

How misery and apathy had taken o’er the land

Because the toys were bested by their foe.

The Dragon towered over him, and paused a while to gloat,

Then opened up its mouth to send its flame,

Teddy fired a water pistol down the giant throat,

The Dragon ran across the hills in shame.

The goblins now lost courage, and the toys would swiftly win,

Now a happy future was in store,

Clowns and rubber ducks hoorayed, train sets, kites joined in,

Now the kids might play with them once more.

Teddy looked around his army, proud of all the toys,

And held back tears that wanted to explode,

He thought of happy times ahead with all the girls and boys

Because they’d won the war at Storybook Road.

more of my CHILDREN"S POEMS