The High Command

A Poem by David Lewis Paget

The Chief of the General Staff awoke

To the ring of the telephone,

He’d tried to snatch a couple of hours

At his Hunting Lodge, in Scone,

But the red phone was insistent, it

Would ring ‘til he picked it up,

‘For God’s sake Carter, what’s it now?’

The answer was abrupt.

‘The Early Warning’s gone to red,

They need you down at Staff!

Hang on, I’m going to patch you through

We’re not sure if it’s naff.

It didn’t go through to orange as

It usually does at first,

But we can’t afford to take a chance…’

The General’s lips were pursed.

‘Scramble the FA-18’s

Are the carriers out, d’you know?’

‘There’s two in the Med and one caught dead

In the dock at Scapa Flow!

The Seventh Army’s at Aldershot

And the Fifth’s in the Middle East.’

‘Well, whether the troops are out or not

It’s Martial Law, at least.’

The Action Room in the basement of

A secret place in Poole,

Had interrupted a war game with

The Army Training School.

The radar screens were alight with scenes

Beamed in from the new AWAC’s,

With missiles coming from everywhere

‘We need to be hitting back!’

The submarines were alerted to

Prepare their missile racks,

The silo’s over in Kansas armed

And ready to attack,

Then suddenly in the Action Room

The radar screens were clear,

There wasn’t a single sign or trace

Of a missile coming near.

And down in a London Nursing Home

They were leading him away,

A nice old fellow with Parkinson’s

With a half-full breakfast tray,

They snapped the lid of his laptop

Told him, ‘George, you’re going to be canned!’

He said, ‘I just got the hang of it,

That game called ‘The High Command!’’

David Lewis Paget

© 2013 David Lewis Paget

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Linda Marie Van Tassell

This reminds me of a moment in time where there was a similar incident between the United States and Russia. There was a malfunction with the computer equipment that made it appear as if the United States had launched missiles at Russia. Luckily, a cooler head prevailed; and thanks to one man's calm, a major storm was averted.

I actually thought this might have been your inspiration, but the ending proved me wrong.

As always, I loved!