Poem: Growing Up

By Jack Brummet 

Growing Up

The 1950s were about
Giving ourselves The American Jitters:
The Day The Earth Stood Still, Huntley-Brinkley
The Thing, Ed Murrow, The Blob, Fidel
Godzilla, Senator Joe McCarthy, Gorgo.

Wild-eyed Nikita pounded his loafers on TV.
He promised to bury us.
The Cold War ignited on Ike's watch
As 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.
                ---o0o---