Poem: The Jitters

By Jack Brummet

The 1950s were about
The American Jitters:
The Day The Earth Stood Still
Huntley Brinkley
The Thing
Ed Murrow
The Blob
Fidel
Godzilla
Senator Joe McCarthy
Gorgo
Who will own the moon 
Wild-eyed Nikita pounded his loafers on TV
And promised to bury us
The Cold War ignited on Ike's watch
Jack Kennedy inherited the residue 
Alarms shrieked duck and cover
Dad was in the basement
Sandbagging the jam closet
And caching beans and gasoline
We scared ourselves for good
And grew up to fear nothing
But nothing itself.
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