[Newspoetry] Pacemaker

[Mike Lehman]

The vice president had a pacemaker
Implanted in his chest Saturday
To control a potentially dangerous heart rhythm
The rhythm of bombs
Nuclear or conventional
It has been his secret addiction
Not just near to his heart
But the very heart of a heartless man
Who has no pity on those he can overcome
Now that he was
A heartbeat away from the presidency
Even the president’s men
Thought it wise
To control his rhythmic, barbarous heart
To confine it to being switched on
Only in the hours
When he is safely off-duty
Strapped in a chair
With the button nowhere near