The Sturmbannführer's Garden Party

The Sturmbannführer's garden party

was an august but decorous affair.

The tea was the finest Ceylon

with a slice of Lisbon lemon.

The crusts had been removed

from the cucumber sandwiches

with the most exquisite precision.

The petits fours were on point,

the mille-feuilles a symphony.

There was light badinage

with an air of persiflage.

As a day it was perfection,

one goose step away from heaven.

And what about the firing squad?

They all stepped up and hit the spot

again and again

and again and again

and again and again

and again.

B.R. 29.01.2022

The sadly recently-departed Clifford Rose as Kessler in the BBC/BRT series Secret Army (1977-9). This character scared the bejesus out of me when I was a little 'un.