And soon ev’ry German Wore a fuzzy brown cap With cute little Mishas On each pocket flap
Ivan's Red Star Station
“The U.S.S.R. has announced plans to construct a natural gas pipeline from Siberia to West Germany. The pipeline is expected to be operational by 1984.” (November 16, 1981). [William Kevin Stoos, Manchester Union Leader, 1981]
Wolfgang drove up to
The Sign of the Star
And a smiling attendant
Leaned into his car.
(He wore a Red Star
On his fuzzy brown cap
And a Misha-Bear patch
Over each pocket flap.)
“Fill’er up Comrade?
What will it be?
We welcome your business—
And, as you can see,
Whatever you ask for
Is what you will get,
From “KGB No-Knock,”
“Supreme Soviet,”
To “Regular Red Star”
Or new “Borsch-ohol,”
We’ll even deliver—
Just give us a call.”
“Ja wohl!” shouted Wolfgang
“What have we to fear?
For clearly it seems
You have no shortage here!”
Soon customers flocked there
From near and afar
To fill up their tanks
At the Sign of the Star—
His prices were always
The lowest around,
And soon Ivan’s station
Was the only in town.
(See Ivan was shrewd
And did well understand
An immutable law of
Supply and demand:
If you have the supply
And your price is the best,
In time you will prosper
And crowd out the rest.)
Now in time it developed
(as might be predicted)
The whole German nation
Became quite addicted;
They needed ole Ivan
Too badly it seemed,
And too late discovered
How Ivan had schemed.
For Ivan foresaw what
The Germans most lacked
And knew he could profit
From one simple fact—
The oil he supplied was
The very foundation,
The blood of the German
Industrial nation;
And he who dispensed it
Could simply control
The life of his customers
Body and soul.
And over the years
It did come to pass
They relied on ole Ivan
For far more than gas:
Their heating oil, kerosene,
Crude and no-knock
All came to them straight
From the communist bloc.
Without Ivan’s blessing
Their cars wouldn’t go,
Nor could they survive in
The cold winter’s snow;
Their factories, schools,
And government too,
All ran on his schedule,
For everyone knew
The power to oil
Was the power to kill
And the whole German country
Now bowed to his will!
(And soon ev’ry German
Wore a fuzzy brown cap
With cute little Mishas
On each pocket flap.)
Copyright © 1981, 2014 William Kevin Stoos
William Kevin Stoos -- Bio and
Archives |
Comments
Copyright © 2020 William Kevin Stoos
William Kevin Stoos (aka Hugh Betcha) is a writer, book reviewer, and attorney, whose feature and cover articles have appeared in the Liguorian, Carmelite Digest, Catholic Digest, Catholic Medical Association Ethics Journal, Nature Conservancy Magazine, Liberty Magazine, Social Justice Review, Wall Street Journal Online and other secular and religious publications. He is a regular contributing author for The Bread of Life Magazine in Canada. His review of Shadow World, by COL. Robert Chandler, propelled that book to best seller status. His book, The Woodcarver (]And Other Stories of Faith and Inspiration) © 2009, William Kevin Stoos (Strategic Publishing Company)—a collection of feature and cover stories on matters of faith—was released in July of 2009. It can be purchased though many internet booksellers including Amazon, Tower, Barnes and Noble and others. Royalties from his writings go to support the Carmelites. He resides in Wynstone, South Dakota.
“His newest book, The Wind and the Spirit (Stories of Faith and Inspiration)” was released in 2011 with all the author’s royalties go to support the Carmelite sisters.”