Bill Grace - Baton Phalanx

Even in training the sound stops you
A mechanical grunt as on line they thrust forward
The young armed with batons sanctioned by authority
Like fencers practicing the forward thrust
Driving the imagined adversary back
Advancing against those
Whose ultimate good or ill
We can not imagine
But know is in our future.

Bill Grace

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/baton-phalanx/