Thursday, March 10, 2016

Late Cold War Sonnet


In ’77, détente was gone
Soviet SS-20s pointing west
Brezhnev sees Afghanistan like a Khan
Carter says, the US won’t be your guest.
Then came Reagan and shit hitting the fan
Pynchon and DeLillo’s visions came true
KGB, RYAN, were Andropov’s plan.
SDI then Chernenko’s quick death knew
Change was coming, yet missiles still pointing.
In ’85, Gorbachev smiled
Perestroika and Glasnost anointing
Changes that would leave Lenin defiled.
And so, the USSR then failed
And all the cold warriors wept, and wailed.