War in Nine Stanzas by Calvin Trillin

[nostamj]

Calvin Trillin, War in Nine Stanzas

IX.

The weapons that we went to wat to get
Have not, as BUsh might say, been found just yet.
And even Bush no longer seeks to blame
Iraq for when the towers were aflame.
You don't need clairvoyance to intuit
This war's against a man who didn't do it.
The man who did is laughing up his sleeve
As parent of our fallen soldiers grieve.
Although we live in color-coded dread,
This was has made us safer, Bush has said.
Most voters like the way he's fought the terror.
And Bush, when asked, could not recall one error.

http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2004/08/14/opinion/opinionspecial/20040815_awar.html

[nostamj]

1. this really is good

no poetry fans this AM?

[Dudley_DUright]

2. Me

:hi:

I was just about to post this myself. Calvin is a national treasure and I always look forward to reading his stuff in "The Nation".

[mediaman007]

3. Clever

and to the point.

Poets make the best use of the fewest words.

[checks-n-balances]

4. Luv Calvin Trillin

Thanks for posting this!

[markses]

5. An Alexander Pope-esque effort

Wonderful couplets. My favorite:

VI.

For us to fight to right what needed righting
Was right, they said, though others did the fighting.
As power for the good, we were exempt
From rules of war: the US could preempt.
Old allies who did not see things our way
Were soon dismissed as weasels or passe.
While making fun of duped UN inspectors,
Hawks brandished facts from Chalabi's defectors.
And so we conquered Baghdad and the rest,
As Bush would on a flight deck soon attest.
He wore his flight suit for that panorama -
The suit he hadn't used in Alabama.

VII.

But what we'd set to righting went so wrong
It stirred some memories of the Vietcong.
Unduped inspectors came to realize
That Chalabi had fed us lies. Surprise!
There never was a flower petal shower.
They saw us as an occupying power.
While we paid Cheney's cronies to rebuild,
Iraqis cheered to see our soldiers killed.
Insurgent forces and our troops still battled
As Jerry Bremer and his crew skidaddled.
For him Bush spun the spin that he could muster -
The sort of speech last used for praising Custer.

--------------------------------------

[nostamj]

6. kick for poetry!

[moof]

7. Anyone have a link to the text, the link is an image

Also Calvin is another person that would be a great president, why doesn't he run ?

Why are many many people that seem really qualified to do the " Job "
not willing to ask for it.

[0rganism]

8. Reminds me of Henry Reed's "Lessons Of The War"

(I hung part 1 on my cubical wall on that fine Spring day bush ordered the invasion of Iraq)

I. NAMING OF PARTS

To-day we have naming of parts. Yesterday,
We had daily cleaning. And to-morrow morning,
We shall have what to do after firing. But to-day,
To-day we have naming of parts. Japonica
Glistens like coral in all of the neighboring gardens,
          And to-day we have naming of parts.

This is the lower sling swivel. And this
Is the upper sling swivel, whose use you will see,
When you are given your slings. And this is the piling swivel,
Which in your case you have not got. The branches
Hold in the gardens their silent, eloquent gestures,
          Which in our case we have not got.

This is the safety-catch, which is always released
With an easy flick of the thumb. And please do not let me
See anyone using his finger. You can do it quite easy
If you have any strength in your thumb. The blossoms
Are fragile and motionless, never letting anyone see
          Any of them using their finger.

And this you can see is the bolt. The purpose of this
Is to open the breech, as you see. We can slide it
Rapidly backwards and forwards: we call this
Easing the spring. And rapidly backwards and forwards
The early bees are assaulting and fumbling the flowers
          They call it easing the Spring.

They call it easing the Spring: it is perfectly easy
If you have any strength in your thumb: like the bolt,
And the breech, and the cocking-piece, and the point of balance,
Which in our case we have not got; and the almond-blossom
Silent in all of the gardens and the bees going backwards and forwards,
          For to-day we have naming of parts. 

more: http://www.solearabiantree.net/namingofparts/namingofparts.html
part 2: http://www.solearabiantree.net/namingofparts/judgingdistances.html

[Mari333]

9. The more things change, the more they stay the same

Mark Twain's Battle Hymn of the Republic is as spot on today as it was back then:

Mine eyes have seen the orgy of the launching of the Sword:
He is searching out the hoardings where the Stranger's wealth is stored.
He hath loosed his fateful lightnings and with Woe and Death has scored.
His lust is moving on.

In a sordid slime harmonious Greed was born in yonder ditch,
With a longing in his bosom and for others' goods an Itch.
As Christ died to make men holy, let men die to make us rich;
Our God is marching on.

[nostamj]

10. wow! have never seen that

great bit of Twain.

thanks for posting! :hi: