Abe Linkum

THE VEEP'S DEFERRAL(S)

Save such as can´t because interments
Or injuries insuperable,
They must return unto the hell
Of war without deferments,

Our soldiers fighting in Iraq,
Afghanistan, despite perhaps
Having been twice or thrice, while gaps
Threaten: civilicans squawk

Indignant when the talk alludes
To raising of a mandatory
Drafting, aware it is not glory
To serve. Wars are not feuds.

Still, that ought have been preconsidered
When making the intial choice
To send abroad our gals and boys.
The burden must be shouldered.

A country has to pay the price
In moral terms, and practical,
For consequences tactical
Occur which are not nice.

So now they threaten "World War III,"
The plutocrats in charge: well, that´s
All fine and good for plutocrats,
Not so for you and me.

Meanwhile the value of our native
Currency (called the dollar) sank
As to the bottom of the tank
With never means creative

So to retrieve it to the surface--
So war is known historically
As bad for the economy:
So citizens grow nervous.

The war is funded both by debt
To China and our children here,
While benefits might come not near
Each wounded future vet.

Therefore when the conscription call
Is broadcast, children have to do
Their sacrificial duty too
Nor let conniption fall;

However, while they risk their limbs,
Their lives, and we our precious loves,
Still it must be, as with kid gloves
Discussed with her or him:

Nor kindly mention as they gird
Themselves as cannon-fodder trainees
The irony of Veep Dick Cheney´s
Service five-times deferred.

(When asked to serve in Vietnam
Dick answered with annoyed aplomb:
"War might disturb my coiffured curl
And my career--I´ll take deferral!")