The space race was not enough.
The war could not be won
by Laika, or Yuri, or Neil.

So Spassky and Fischer
were sent to the front line,
reluctant troops in Reykjavik,
playing to save the world.

The Soviet’s revenge
was on the basketball court,
an arena as unlikely
as a miracle on ice.

Americans never
marched in Moscow,
nor Russians in LA.
Better a boycott
than a Bay of Pigs,
a button pushed,
The Bomb.

Was the last blow laid
on the cinema screen,
when Rocky put down Drago?
A fitting end in fiction
to a war that wasn’t real.
 

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This one from my pamphlet 'The Taking Part' has felt very relevant this last week or two, especially today as the IOC and FIFA are apparently about to ban Russia from competition.