Helen on the Ramparts

A Work in Progress
54

When Americans waged war in Vietnam

as Russia does in Ukraine and Israel does…

while Gulf State financiers’ profit from all sides

angering the gods and the angel Gabriel

        

when Charlie Ross Michael and Donal

stole horses together and Jessica Gina 

Claire and Karen abetted them when portable cassettes

made music matter and words meant more

when Nixon was President with Kissinger beside him

threw a generation of conscripts into war

when outrage at a break-in forced Nixon to resign

before the internet disrupted everything

when there was honor, even decency then

now Helen’s on the ramparts pointing out billionaires

assailing the Republic and judges beside them

paving the way to imperial power

Dick Russell © Richard M Russell

                        2025