I took a charabanc to the country
On the road outside Croydon Aerodrome.
Walked through stands of acorn laden oak trees,
To cafeteria with a juke box.
Slurp up a strawberry ice cream milk shake
As Buddy sings about his Peggy Sue.
Beatnik with a sketchbook in the corner,
Sketches apocalyptic post nuke scenes,
After Hiroshima what does life mean?
Evermore paranoid until we die,
Sixty five years on it is all still there,
Buried in deep recesses of our minds,
Once seen annihilation images
Are hard to erase no matter how much
Bubblegum our culture sticks us up with.
Tell me again, why do we need Trident?

Harry Rogers, In The Red Bedroom, 11th January 2022.