A Special Day

“They’re right there
Bobby,
Real clear
Those photos
Show Russian silos
Full scale Russian missiles
They can hit us
At any time
Across the whole eastern coastline.”

“Yeah, I can see them,
Jack.
Sure, they could attack
But what did you expect would happen
After the Bay of Pigs invasion?”

“They can’t threaten us that way.”

“It’s a sovereign country,
They have their own laws
They do things their way.”

“I’ll force them to take them away.”

“You can’t see every part of the country
They’ll hide them some place
You can’t stop the arms race.”

“I’ll stop the arms race
With the Space Race.
We’ll build bigger rockets
No one can catch us
We’ll be the best.
That’s the test.”

The President looked slightly frayed
From the events of the day
Some lines of tension
Creasing his otherwise sunny presentation
Of a man of vision.

“Where are the girls?”
“What girls,
Jack?”
“You know, the ones I asked for
I told two agents before
You came in
That I’ld be wanting
Some relaxation.”
“You seem to need a lot of relaxation
These days, Jack.”
“It’s a stressful job,
Bobby.”
“Still, Jack,
That’s an expensive hobby
You’ve got.”

“Speaking of hobbys,
Bobby,
How are those hearings going?”
“That’s no hobby,
Jack,
The Mafia’s a real threat
They corrupt
Our youth
They undermine our values, our truth.”

“They’re hand in glove with the CIA
Trying to put Castro away.
Pop always used to say
Play both ends against the middle
You’ll get your way.”

“What happens if both ends are on the same side,
Jack?”

© Copyright Jerome Raymond Kraus 2006