I Miss the Cold War

from The Belly Remembers

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

And 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.

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