by Rick Young | Feb 27, 2022 | Poem
Putin started shootin’ ‘cross the border in Ukraine.
Now he’s talkin’ nukes and it’s quite clear he’s gone insane.
He went in to ‘kill nazis,’ though their leader is a jew.
The people took up arms and said, “No, this you cannot do.”
He’s strafing, bombing, tanks amok, but Ukraine won’t concede.
We’ve only sanctions on our side to pacify his greed.
An oligarch gone rogue has not been seen since Hitler’s days
(unless you count the orange demon’s presidential phase).
After four days fighting, Russia claimed Chernobyl’s site.
Only disadvantage: now their soldiers glow at night.
Signs this war is spreading, lapping into Belarus,
are stoking fears worldwide that Putin could let missiles loose.
Third World War could put a stop to our next big election.
Leaders will rise through the waste by natural selection.
President Zelensky has accorded himself well.
His people stand behind him, telling Putin, “Go to hell.”
by Rick Young | Feb 26, 2022 | Poem
Broiled friends defy description.
Nuclear cooking benefits only buzzards.
There’s a flash in the panhandle,
and Florida floats out to sea,
a theme park of ash.
Those who saw New York go
will not remember for the pain.
The west coast was all too easy
with its many faults.
Survivors flock to the midlands,
a dust-covered wastescape
where the sun is seldom seen
but the wind is constant.
Odds are the Australians
will be the last to die.
by Rick Young | Feb 25, 2022 | Poem
Always looking to the sky, you and I.
What we gonna count upon if baseball die?
Russia’s at the English Channel, by the by.
I feel like the backup catcher in the rye.
I’ve seen pop ups looked like they were vapor trails.
Homers long enough to become holy grails.
Life’s played in a super dome of atmospheric whirls.
Those long beloved base paths have surrendered all their pearls.
by Rick Young | Feb 24, 2022 | Poem
Looks like we’ll live through another war.
Keeping peace since Little Boy’s been what life’s for.
Defending Ukraine is a subtle task.
Avoiding nukes now is all we can ask.
A madman autocrat is on the move,
a bit east of where Hitler got his groove.
There’s talk of cyber war and stopping trains.
It’s crucial to weigh losses versus gains.
It’s world war if Russia moves further west.
Unlock your shelter and pray for the best.
Once NATO troops enter into this fray,
we’re on the precipice of judgement day.
We faced apocalypse in sixty-two.
Sixty years later comes this bleak redo.
by Rick Young | Feb 23, 2022 | Poem
“Let him reign in Ukraine.”
Orange praise for pal Vlad’s brain.
Rise, autocrats of the world.
Now your flag has been unfurled.
Democracy is on the slide.
Four more years it would have died.
Putin’s troops now pointed east,
lumbering, here comes the beast.
Spectre of an old world order,
troops amassed on Russia’s border,
harkens back to sixty-two,
back to Cuban missile stew.
Biden is no J.F.K.
This is real war, not cosplay.
Ukraine’s president, a comic,
stands upon a stage atomic.
NATO, Plato, all involved,
question how this can be solved.
Meanwhile, tanks and guns move in.
Wait for carnage to begin.
