Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Putting Lipstick On a Pig: An Impressionist Biography of Richard M. Nixon in Eight Haikus


1

Richard Nixon sleeps
The little girl on fire
Visits his dreams

2

Mass murderer, liar
Paranoid war criminal
But he’s not a crook

3

And Richard Nixon
Must have to stand naked
So sang Bob Dylan

4

America ends
Among the flashlights in the
Watergate Hotel

5

Nixon in China
With Kissinger on the ground
Spiro left in charge

6

Chanted in the streets
Vietnam Cambodia
He tried to kill me

7

Nixon waves goodbye
Pat and Tricia try to smile
Nightmare is over

8

Many years later
Yorba Linda, black marble
Dancing on his grave

1 comment:

TCB Walsh said...

Very nice - I always think of Nixon (I guess everyone else did too) when Dylan sings that "naked" line in "It's Alright Ma" on Before the Flood. - Steve (rockturtleneck)