First we'd climb the fence into the garden centre,

a barbed wire castle, before stealing six-foot lengths of cane

and wading through the brook to the College Road bridge,

where we'd set them tight with nylon string

and flex them into bows,

strumming an instrument of violence and war,

once favoured by Stone Age nomads, Japanese horsemen,

and Robin Hood, who wore Lincoln green on ITV.

When the bow was sprung, we fletched arrows with dart flights

and pigeon feathers, before shaving down the points

with penknives – needle-sharp splinter-ends, that could draw

blood from fingertips, or stand proud in the eye of a king.

Then we stalked the woods for rabbits, burying the shaft

deep in a time-travelling Norman, falling from a battlement.

Note the pierced armour as he paddles the air, the flight

like a brooch pinned to his heart.

LONGBOW featured in The Rest is History Robin Hood episode.