Sub

I am nine
Just given
A gray plastic
Submarine from
Germany where my
Father has returned from
An Air Force trip of two months.
The sub uses baking soda to dive
And resurface which is why this
Gift was given in hopes it may
Spark my interest in physics
Or chemistry but at nine it
Is too late as I am set on
Mythology then history
But the sub does give
Years of fun in fish
Bowls as a guest
Visiting or just
In soapy dish
Water where
Resurfacing
Surprises
A sister
And at
Xmas
I am
Given
A mobile
Periscope
To see around
Corners every boy’s
Dream of concealment
And observation but both
Sub and periscope disappear
Into my early teens at eleven as
Other hobbies take their keen
Interest in particular models
Plastic paper and wood a
Progression of models
From ships to planes
To cities to states
To how armies
Transport
Supplies
Across
Beaches
Ports roads
By air and water
And in time by molecular
Recombobulator across increasing
Distances though the cleverness of
Of my baking soda sub lingers
In my memory gray and
Menacing as it rises
In icy soap suds
Northern waters
A gray wolf in
Disguise as
A plastic
Toy.