Playing War to Pass the Time

This is a poem I wrote for a literature class in response to a story by James Joyce using the themes "escape" and "the passing of time." The story is about a boy who reads Detective and Wild West stories and plays Indians wars with his friend but still feels that he is lacking something. He finally decides to play truant from school and explore a nearby city. In case you are wondering how that turned out, he saw the sites, bought sweets,  but then he met a crazy stranger and came away from the encounter rather shaken, having learned his lesson.

Playing War to Pass the Time

He played at war to pass time,
but  time lead him to believe
he heard a call, a distant chime:
“For true excitement, you must leave.”

For he was trapped within routine
and the dulling colors of life;
pretend adventures lost their sheen:
A boy's no warrior! A stick's no knife!

He sits inside a shrinking room
hour after ponderous hour.
Facts and figures, this tedious doom
would crush his dream while still in flower.

To be a traveler-oh what glory-
in his land the sharpest mind,
quick and dangerous like in stories:
there's not one outlaw he can't find.

He thinks that he might risk a scrape.
He quells the thought, but he still finds
he cannot find a real escape
in playing war to pass the time.