Wednesday, April 16, 2014

H. Is Dreaming Again: Herman Kahn Writes a Letter to the Rooskies

Let’s say the war’s
Begun:  our massive
Machines girding under
The weight of the Rockies
Ready to fire.  Our sleek

Submarines floating somewhere,
Could be the Baltic, could be
Anywhere the cold-free
Burst of neutrons,
Of plutonium and

Lithium 6 over your heads.
Let’s say the war is on
The radio:  the crack
And static of unknown
Commands, the halting

Tone of your comrades
As they see the missiles
Come in, shattering Moskva
And creaming the Urals—
All you’ll have left, all

You ever had left
Was Pushkin and vodka.
I know by now my
Radioactivity surpasses
Yours.  The might of

The laser and microwave,
My citrus screwdriver--
Between the different
Things going on today,
I forgot to call you back.


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