A tiny chestnut tree grew tall
To span the decades well
And in the Autumn or the Fall,
Its spiky conkers fell...
The green leaves lost their chlorophyll,
Became like gold leaf's glow
And children gathered with the thrill,
Grabbed conkers then would go...
A piece of string, a three inch nail
And soon it's testing time,
For some succeed while others fail,
No reason and no rhyme...
Some are champions, born to win,
Despite a crack or two,
As if so brave they won't give in,
They're forced to see things through...
The chestnut tree stayed where it was,
Of fights it wasn't told,
But if it knew, it would be cross,
Because that's kind of cold...
Its children smashed to smithereens,
Defenceless every one,
By human children, even teens,
As if such games were fun...
Tremendous trees deserve much more,
Their grandeur warms the heart...
Alas, Man has no Conkers Law,
So no-one makes a start...
Thus conkers end up fighting fights,
While children laugh with glee,
For all of these lack wise insights,
Hence inhumanity...
Now you may giggle, laugh and snort!
Why should you care at all?
I bet you never gave a thought,
Why should you? You've left school...
Should conker contests carry on?
Or should we get them banned?
If all the chestnut trees were gone,
Perhaps you'd understand...
Denis Martindale
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/bonkers-for-conkers/
