When the Ray Gun wasn’t on his meds,
\nhe might, off the cuff, say, "Nuke the Reds."
\nOnce he’d shouted, like a baseball call,
\n"Mister Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"
\nBut he wasn’t able to conceal
\nthat he’d made an Iran-Contra deal.
\nLater, when his brain was giving in,
\nhe was mostly Mommy’s mannequin.
\nHistory shows his coin as two-sided.
\nMany deem his policies misguided.
\nPoor folks called him old son of a bitch.
\nBut he was a hero to the rich.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When the Ray Gun wasn’t on his meds, he might, off the cuff, say, "Nuke the Reds." Once he’d shouted, like a baseball call, "Mister Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" But he wasn’t able to conceal that he’d made an Iran-Contra deal. Later, when his brain was giving in, he was mostly Mommy’s mannequin. History […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[16],"tags":[3,4],"class_list":["post-792","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poem-2","tag-poem","tag-poetry-2"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":212,"url":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/?p=212","url_meta":{"origin":792,"position":0},"title":"Dog’s Life Sentence","author":"Rick Young","date":"December 12, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"He got got seven years hard time. It felt like forty-nine. He got caught with several bones. It wasn't such a crime. On his appeal, he made a deal. He said he'd name some names. But then refused, he won't be used, he would not play their games. 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He'd get you justice if you'd been extorted. But folks\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Poem"","block_context":{"text":"Poem","link":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/?cat=16"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1044,"url":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/?p=1044","url_meta":{"origin":792,"position":2},"title":"Bob the Nabob","author":"Rick Young","date":"December 29, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Bob was Bobby 'til he learned of palindromes. For his living spaces, he sought motor homes. His history was built upon deceptions. He'd been to some Republican receptions. And on his wall a Spiro Agnew portrait hung. He'd fallen under that man's spell when he was young. When asked, he'd\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Poem"","block_context":{"text":"Poem","link":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/?cat=16"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":950,"url":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/?p=950","url_meta":{"origin":792,"position":3},"title":"The Conversationalist","author":"Rick Young","date":"October 1, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Caruthers flustered others with his glib incessant gab. The worst abuse life could unloose would be to share a cab. He'd talk until your ears turned red. your anvil bled and eardrums missed a beat. He'd find you in the office, in the loo, the pub or elsewhere on the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Poem"","block_context":{"text":"Poem","link":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/?cat=16"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":960,"url":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/?p=960","url_meta":{"origin":792,"position":4},"title":"Broken Hipster","author":"Rick Young","date":"October 5, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"He falls down a lot. But that's cool. Just smokes a cigarette on the ground and mumbles something existential. He's got a nickel- plated whiskey flask. But he can't find it. Must be in the pocket of an old zoot suit, somewhere. 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