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Filling in the Bomb Shelter(the Cuban Missile Crisis Over)


Dad lit up his Havana cigar
that he had been saving for the occasion.

On TV a flotilla of Russian warships
were leaving Cuba.

For weeks Dad stood in our driveway
watching our neighbor Liam

heave shovelfuls of dirt
into the earth, patching the wound

that was his half-built fallout shelter.
Why don't you help Liam? Mom scolded Dad.

"Why? Did he build a guest room for us?"
But Dad stopped joking when he heard

that Liam's baby had pneumonia.
Dad was the first person over

to walk Liam's dog daily
so Liam could spend more time at the hospital.

When Dad heard the boy had died he sulked in his den,
drinking, Mom hard put to coax him out.

The day Liam and his wife moved out
Dad waved goodbye. He was standing in the middle

of broken sod, where Liam's bomb shelter
had been. Dad still dealing with the fallout.
.

I like this. The historical backdrop, the fact that Havana cigars were illegal, and the usage of ' still dealing from the fallout.' Some well used turns of phrase. I recall when JFK was on TV and urged Americans to build fallout shelters

Thanks, Ken. My father complained that the government promised to reimburse citizens for the expense of building their bomb shelters, but never did.

I think some states promised a tax write off, but the requirements were pretty strict

Personal, familial memory and history for an engaging poem with a finale without closure.

Bravo,



Michael

Ken, I think your version is more accurate.

Thanks, Michael, for the bravo.

Hi Bob,

I'm nominating this poem of yours.

Please consider reducing the title to:

after the Cuban Missile Crisis


in the spirit of workshopping,

Michael (MV)