Sunday, November 26, 2017

day THREE HUNDRED and ELEVEN

I Miss the Cold War

I miss the Cold War:
cloak and dagger; spies; secret codes;
shorelines bristling with nukes;
Mutual Assured Destruction — MAD! —
how cheerful that now sounds!

I miss the enemy:
that broad-faced mass of men with sickles
and women with brooms; black-haired
multitudes in red Mao jackets;
Young Pioneers; mustachioed dictators;
reds; pinko commie sympathizers —
how I miss the old, predictable adversary!

I miss the Red Phone, the Black Box,
the Button, the Domino Theory, bomb shelters,
the constant threat of nuclear strike.
How safe, how comfortable, that ungainly
teeter-totter seems from the darkness
of this new and lonely perch.

I miss being one of the good guys,
miss knowing we were right.

--Tamara Madison



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