BACKYARD
I did not sweat
through the missile crisis
I was too young, had
no idea where Cuba was
and it was too cold
testing an old siren
outside our school
fun
sitting under my desk
practice
making perfect
that cold cold bipolar
war
one wromg move
could get every bomb
from Kalinin to Siberia
heading for
my face
every American base
.
but that’s geopolitics
and the worst of ideology
Oh
beast, non-
beast
bestial, non-bestial:
wish there were a switch
to flick or dial to turn
to shift us, bounce
us between polarities
would be good for my
Mars in Aries issues, get
my return
blow in first forgo
and concentrate
on kindness
and diplomacy
and not stacking my missiles
or my anti missile missiles
right in
your back yard
poems 2 die for 