Wargames

Wargames

The Afghan desert landscape unfolds slowly far below

Criss-crossed with beaten tracks

Small settlements of human habitation

And the long-sought compounds

Of suspected combatants

Encompassed by the perimeter

Of a distant theatre of war

The transmission time-delay

From the remote telemetry

Of the over-flying drone

Muffles the stark reality

Of sound and vision

As it deals out its deadly cargo

Of death and destruction

Whilst the pilot sits secure

Removed from any jeopardy

Detached and unconnected

Bunkered beneath the ground

In rural Lincolnshire

Amid an arcade of work-stations

Computers and communications

In cool and air-conditioned calm

Within the secure perimeter

Beyond the blast-door

Heads bow forward

In concentration to the task

Beneath the headsets

Clean-shaved faces

Reflect the glow from many screens

Hands upon the joysticks

Making careful corrections

To course and altitude

Fingers flickering nervously

Around the bomb-buttons

As the targets come into view

Copyright Andy Fawthrop 2013