The Nation.



A Short Conversation With a Sissy-Hawk on the Possibility of a Quagmire

Deadline Poet

By Calvin Trillin

This article appeared in the September 22, 2003 edition of The Nation.

September 4, 2003

"The nerve! Not so! That word still rankles."
"You're sinking. I can't see your ankles."
"The thugs are here; we now just squeeze."
"Excuse me: It's above your knees."
"We planned all this; it's no surprise."
"There's nothing showing 'neath your thighs."
"With terrorists brute force works best."
"I think the mud's now at your chest."
"To show our strength, we have to drub
These...Arab...glub, glub, glub, glub, glub."

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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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