Analog Enemy 

 

An original poem by Chrome Dome Mike Kimbro

 

Consider reading along to my Spoken Verse Performance.

 

 

VERSE 1

 

You're about to star,

 

At the battle of the bands.

 

Got a rockin' guitar,

 

And a couple dozen fans.

 

 

VERSE 2

 

The other groups are merely,

 

Acoustic guitar strumming.

 

Music lessons they need dearly.

 

Dude, why are you slumming!?!

 

 

CHORUS

 

You yearn for that win,

 

Cause no fruit you've eaten,

 

Compares to the taste of victory.

 

 

Now go buy a mandolin,

 

Cause you've just been beaten,

 

By an unworthy analog enemy.

 

 

VERSE 3

 

With silly smiles on their face,

 

They play an old hippie song.

 

But when your time comes to replace,

 

You notice that something is wrong.

 

 

VERSE 4

 

Yeah, even before the intro,

 

As you fiddle with the tuning keys.

 

The volume drops to zero.

 

And you start to feel ill at ease.

 

 

CHORUS

 

You yearn for that win,

 

Cause no fruit you've eaten,

 

Compares to the taste of victory.

 

 

Now go buy a mandolin,

 

Cause you've just been beaten,

 

By an unworthy analog enemy.

 

 

VERSE 5

 

A power problem burst your bubble,

 

And now you're feeling forlorn.

 

The final act didn't have trouble,

 

Rockin' a clarinet and a French horn.

 

 

VERSE 6

 

Your self importance, you made quite clear.

 

And you paid the price for that gaffe.

 

Be cool when dealing with sound engineers,

 

Or they might just have the last laugh.

 

 

CHORUS

 

You yearn for that win,

 

Cause no fruit you've eaten,

 

Compares to the taste of victory.

 

 

Now go buy a mandolin,

 

Cause you've just been beaten,

 

By an unworthy analog enemy.

 

 

VERSE 7

 

We held Russian MIG's in disdain,

 

Since we believed them to be inferior.

 

Back then they said that our planes,

 

Were in every way far superior.

 

 

VERSE 8

 

But the transistors we used,

 

Which were both light and compact.

 

Weren't at all up to being abused,

 

By a thermo nuclear attack.

 

 

VERSE 9

 

Now we depend on microchips,

 

And composites and programming.

 

They help our planes to fly off of ships.

 

And provide better radar jamming.

 

 

VERSE 10

 

You know such aircraft cost a tidy sum,

 

Compared to those they are replacing.

 

Not one of our well trained pilots are dumb.

 

At air shows they're flat out amazing.

 

 

VERSE 11

 

Yeah, planes made today can work it,

 

Flying forward, and up and down, too.

 

But that takes integrated circuits

 

With which EMP's can really screw.

 

 

VERSE 12

 

Now if North Korea has hidden,

 

A bomber squadron which is old school.

 

Like the B-29's which were ridden,

 

On flights that ceased Imperial rule.

 

 

VERSE 13

 

Don't tell me not to worry about,

 

Stuff like the long range of B-29's.

 

Sophistication only adds to the doubt.

 

As the Hawaiian Islands were soon to find.

 

 

VERSE 14

 

Seems their inbound missile warning system,

 

Didn't include a basic "All Clear" signal.

 

The fact that such a need wasn't envisioned,

 

Makes me feel our readiness is dismal.

 

 

VERSE 15

 

I'm hoping said system was bought on sale,

 

Because it sure as shit wasn't field tested.

 

When folks talk about economies of scale,

 

And their benefits, such 'bumps' aren't suggested.

 

 

VERSE 16

 

From what we've heard, Hawaii isn't alone,

 

In it's need to work with alert broadcasters.

 

All the other states are probably on their own,

 

Each crafting such a system, as we flirt with disaster.

 

 

CHORUS

 

You yearn for that win,

 

Cause no fruit you've eaten,

 

Compares to the taste of victory.

 

 

Now go buy a mandolin,

 

Cause you've just been beaten,

 

By an unworthy analog enemy.

 

 

The End.

 

 

Copyright © Michael Kimbro 2018.  All rights reserved.

 

 

Keywords:  Poems about musical instruments, electric guitars, World War II, North Korean conflict poetry, Verses about aircraft, missile attacks, Odes about music competitions.