Knights in Coloured Overalls

Knights in coloured overalls
Wave to their great devotees—
Two boys by a garden gate,
Who watch them ride their metal beast.

Dismounting, each with practiced grace,
They wheel great black sarcophagi
To their awesome monster’s maw;
It lifts, empties, then slowly bites.

Youth in wide-eyed wonder gasps
As evil pestilence is crushed,
Sequestered from the world most fair,
And banished to the realm of dust.

Their mission well met one more time,
They mount their fearsome steed and glide
To next-door’s vault of heinous waste
With puffed-out chests so full of pride.

Drained, and yet…

Another interrupted night
Another day half-zombified
Concentration all but gone;
Tempted to just drift along.

No will to attempt what needs doing,
Yet worth it for that heavenly viewing
Of little faces filled with glee,
As they bounce upon my knee.

Eyes full of wonder, taking in
An ordinary mundane thing.
Seen afresh its beauty glows
As they turn to the one who knows

And ask for confirmation
(And a simple explanation)
of this magical delight
that sets their world alight.

So please another sleepless week,
with head that aches and joints that creak,
If it means more of these joys,
From our little girl and boys.