On Kim Jong Il's Announcement

deadline poet

By Calvin Trillin

This article appeared in the August 20, 2001 edition of The Nation.

August 9, 2001

We said that Kim Jong Il was just the guy
For whom we needed Star Wars in the sky.
Now Kim Jong Il declares we needn't worry
That he might up and bomb us in a hurry:
He isn't testing for the missile race;
He's got a moratorium in place.
Does this, then, mean that we won't have to wield
A multibillion-dollar missile shield?
Well, no, for other wicked rogues remain.
If they go, we'll find others as profane.
If all rogues disappear, we won't be glum,
We'll hope that if we build it, they will come.

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About Calvin Trillin

Calvin Trillin is The Nation's "deadline poet." He has been a staff writer for The New Yorker since 1963 and has written the syndicated weekly column "Uncivil Liberties" since 1986. He has authored many, many books, including Tepper's Not Going Out and Deadline Poet: My Life as a Doggerelist. more...
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