Childhood recall:
Wars Hot and Cold
I watch my father’s mustache twitch.
He winces at Life’s photographs
of Yalta, grinning Joseph Stalin
darkly evil. Dad’s head nods no.
It’s ’45, the world’s relieved,
but Dad thinks Russia is and will be
our nation’s greatest enemy.
At church, we pray they’ll be converted.
We practice ducking under desks
at school, in fear of war with Russia—
George Orwell guesses we might perish
from bombs like those that won the war.
__________________
Ralph
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