Patriotism, 2008

[TerzaRima]

So Mr Rima and I get The Nation every week (shut up). Calvin Trillin had this poem in this week's issue. It's a little facile but I thought it was worth sharing with you Current Event types:

Patriotism, 2008

I backed the war in Nam OK,
Though I used pull to stay away.
A patriot? But can't you tell?
I wear a flag on my lapel.

My company's now based offshore;
We don't pay taxes anymore.
A patriot? But can't you tell?
I wear a flag on my lapel.

That clean air stuff's not meant for me.
I drive a German SUV.
A patriot? But can't you tell?
I wear a flag on my lapel.

We needn't build a grand memorial
To patriots. It's all sartorial.

[Kunery]

Another of his I liked, appearing just before our latest adventure began:

Richard Perle: whose Fault Is He?
By Calvin Trillin

Consider kids who bullied Richard Perle--
Those kids who said Perle threw just like a girl,
Those kids who poked poor Perle to show how soft
A mamma's boy could be, those kids who oft-
Times pushed poor Richard down and could be heard
Addressing him as Sissy, Wimp or Nerd.
Those kids have got a lot to answer for,
'Cause Richard Perle now wants to start a war.
The message his demeanor gets across:
He'll show those playground bullies who's the boss.
He still looks soft, but when he writes or talks
There is no tougher dude among the hawks.
And he's got planes and ships and tanks and guns--
All manned, of course, by other people's sons.

[cethklein]

Both good ones although Whose Fault Is He is kind of poorly written I think. It definitely could be more refined. I'm no poetry expert but it just doesn't sound right to me.

[johnnysannie]

Both good ones although Whose Fault Is He is kind of poorly written I think. It definitely could be more refined. I'm no poetry expert but it just doesn't sound right to me.

Trillin is a humorist and journalist, not really a poet per se; he sometimes uses poetry to make a point but he's made no claim to being a literary poet.

He's from my neck of the woods, a Kansas City boy!

[TerzaRima]

I agree. I do like his other stuff, particularly his food writing--Travels with Alice, for one.

The new cooking forum might be a good place to talk about our favorite food writers, like Trillin, MFK Fisher, and Ruth Reichl.