Dennis Spilchuk Poet Verse

Notes About The Poem

Sputnik Scare

Sputnik Scare

The beep-beep-beep signal scare
From the Sputnik artificial satellite
Orbiting the Earth, broadcast through the air,
Continued for twenty-two days
Until the batteries ran out.

The Russians are first in space!
And America is on edge:
Perceptions of a missile gap and space control
Lead to thoughts of a war with nuclear bombs
As people watch for Sputnik circling the globe.

In response to the Red Soviet aggression,
The USA increases its nuclear arsenal position,
While Britain rocks Australia with nuclear tests and
Fallout radiation. All three engage in atmospheric testing
To assert power dominance in the world theatre

As their ambassadors hammer out agreements
In the United Nations assembly building.
The public gasps in fear; the situation is tense!
Tempers flare, compromise is exhausted;
No country is stepping backward!

Sirens scream out drill warnings
To prepare for nuclear holocaust,
And ”NORAD” is placed on high alert
For incoming “ICBM” thermonuclear warhead missiles.
The “Cold War” is heating up.

First responders spring into action
To ensure their response is positive and coordinated:
Children duck under desks for cover,
Pedestrians run into subways to escape the blast,
And families hide in bomb shelters with rations.

Politicians crowd elevators going down
Into the bowels of the earth for protection,
Whereas the rich fly to unknown destinations:
“What in the world are we heading for?”
Everywhere, people pray for sanity once more!
			        ***

Notes:
October 4, 1957: On October 4, 1957, the USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) launched Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite in space. The satellite orbited in space 150 miles above the Earth’s surface for 3 months at a speed of 18,000 mph. It sent out a steady beep-beep-beep signal for 22 days until its batteries ran out. The space age had begun.
August 1, 1957: On August 1, 1957, the U.S.A. and Canada created NORAD (North American Air Defence Command) during the “Cold War.” Its purpose was to provide aerospace defence, which included the detection, validation, and warning of attacks against North America, whether by aircraft, missiles, or space vehicles.
Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM): On August 21, 1957, the USSR launched the “R-7 Semyorka,” the world’s first ICBM. The U.S.A. successfully test-fired their first ICBM, an “SM-65 Atlas” ICBM, on December 17, 1957.

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