Eyes Aloft

 Eyes Aloft

By Lynn Bueling

They tested  bombs and filmed the bloom

of mushroom clouds that rose

and rode aloft on overhead winds

and carried dangers of it to us.

They called the 50s the Decade of Fear

and the world prepared for the worst.

Scant radar array in the USA 

might miss Russians sneaking

through to drop a clutch of eggs 

to hatch and bring destruction. 

Mom’s aunt and daughter joined

the Ground Observer Corps 

as Skywatch volunteers,

urged by Truman to recall 

Pearl Harbor could happen again. 

They took their shift in  a little shack 

on the hill west of town 

where with “Eyes Aloft”  they 

scanned the sky for enemy

that might come sneaking through.

The “Decade of Fear” kept us on our toes 

wondering if we’d see the sun again. 

Meanwhile just below the hill

baseballs flew out of the park, 

and Steinbeck passed through Alice.