LOOKING BACK 53 YEARS.....OUCH!

(First posted in 2008))



Ah, what can I say in my defense?

I was young, only 15 years old.

It was 1964 and American culture was still in need of some enlightenment.

And ok, I was dumb. And sexist.


I do not think this way today about women or presidential politics. Really.


But here, as it appeared in the June 1964 ABHIS, the literary magazine of Abington High School, is my first published poem.


MRS. SMITH
— OR —
WHATEVER
HAPPENED
TO RICHARD N.?

O’ Margaret Chase Smith, I admire your
gall,
But as president, do you think you can
carry the ball?
Do you think that the Senate will pass all
your bills
As they fight and holler up on Capitol Hill?
I admit, as a senator, they say you’re swell,
But as a president, only time will tell.
And Mrs. Smith, before you go,
There are a few things I’d like to know.
At the Geneva Conference, what about
there?
Would you keep “Nikki” waiting while you
set your hair?
But there’s one big question that troubles
me a lot!
Mrs. Smith, for a running mate, just who
have you got?
William West ‘66
As bad as that is, it's downright liberal next to the other piece entitled "To Arms!" which warned the men of Abington High School of the threat of women taking over the world.

I don't think I'll print that on here.