A friend of mine who knows I collect Toy Soldiers passed me this Elvis McGonagall improvised performance poem about toy soldier collectors and wargamers.
I think I like the first four lines or maybe the fourth line best “(despite his creaky knees)”
Elvis McGonagall is a Scottish poet and stand-up comedian, notable for poetry slam performances and performance poems.
It came from the programme website of Saturday Live Radio 4 broadcast with Fi Glover, archived here
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/saturdaylive/saturdaylive_20070630.shtml
It mentions the outgoing PM Tony Blair in a hawkish connection and was obviously written around the time of Harry Pearson’s Achtung Schweinhund being published, as he is interviewed on the programme.
On some devices that run .ram files you can hear the archived Harry Pearson “Secret Lives” section interview that inspired the improvised / spontaneous poem and Elvis’ performance of this poem.
The Soldiering On poem is archived on the BBC radio Saturday Live website Elvis Mcgonagall poems for 30 June 2007
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/saturdaylive/elvismcgonagall.shtml
but haven’t found it anywhere else including on Elvis’ website http://www.elvismcgonagall.co.uk
Enjoy!
Despite his creaky knees …
Blogposted by Mark, Man of TIN blog.
Man of Tin blog 
Excellent poem I may borrow it for my blog , never heard of it or the author before , Cheers Tony
LikeLike
Tony
I have it posted up inside my Games cupboard and the opening section still makes me laugh especially the creaky knees and ‘battle of the bulge’ bit.
If you can play .RAM files available on the BBC link you can hear the Harry Pearson short interview and hear Elvis McGonagall perform this poem.
Mark Man of TIN
LikeLike