Nixon in China

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Nixon in China Libretto

SYSTEMACT ONE

SYSTEMScene 1: Nixon’ s arrival

(The airfield outside Peking. It is a very cold, clear,

dry morning; Monday, February 21, 1972; the air is

full of static electricity. No airplanes are arriving;

there is the odd note of birdsong. Finally, from behind

some buildings, come the sounds of troops marching.

Contingents of army, navy and air force – 120 men of

each service – circle the field and begin to sing "The

Three Main Rules of Discipline and the Eight Points

of Attention")

SYSTEMCHORUS

Soldiers of heaven hold the sky,

the morning breaks and shadows fly.

Follow the orders of the poor,

your master is the laborer

who rules the world with truth and grace.

Deal with him justly, face to face,

pay a fair price for all you buy,

pay to replace what you destroy.

Divide the landlord’ s property,

take nothing from the tenantry,

do not mistreat the captive foe.

Respect women, it is their due

replace doors when you leave a house.

Roll up straw matting after use.

The people are the heroes now.

Behemoth pulls the peasant’ s plow.

When we look up, the fields are white

with harvest in the morning light

and mountain ranges one by one

rise red beneath the harvest moon.

(A jet is heard approaching, touching down, and

taxiing across the runway. As The Spirit of’76 comes

into view, slowing to a stop, Premier Chou En-lai and

a small group of officials stroll out to meet it, casting

long shadows in the pale yellow light. A ramp is drawn

up to the hatchway. After a pause the door opens and

President Nixon stands in the opening for a instant,

then begins to descend the ramp, closely followed by

the First Lady in her scarlet coat. When the President

reaches the middle of the ramp, Premier Chou begins

to clap and the President stops short and returns the

gesture, according to the Chinese custom. He reaches

the bottom step and extends his right hand as he walks

towards the Premier. They shake hands)

CHOUYour flight was smooth, I hope?

NIXONOh yes,

NIXONsmoother than usual I guess.

NIXONYes, it was very pleasant.

NIXONWe stopped in Hawaii for a day

NIXONand Guam, to catch up on the time.

NIXONIt’ s easier that way.

NIXONThe Prime Minister knows about that.

NIXONHe is such a traveller.

CHOUNo, not I but as a traveller come home

CHOUfor good to China, one for whom

CHOUall travel is a penance now.

CHOUI am most proud to welcome you.

(As the rest of the American party disembarks,

the band strikes up. The Premier introduces the

President to the Chinese official entourage,

and together they review the massed ranks of the

honor guard. All heads turn as they pass. While

the introductions are beginning, the President begins

to sing, and, as he sings, the joy of anticipated

triumph becomes the terrible expectation of failure.

The Chinese and American official parties in due

course leave the stage. The brilliant sunshine

dwindles to the light of incandescent lamps. A

telephone rings twice offstage, is picked up offstage.

In a moment Henry Kissinger interrupts the President

to tell him that Chairman Mao wishes to meet with

him)

NIXONNews has a kind of mystery:

NIXONwhen I shook hands with Chou En-lai

NIXONon this bare field outside Peking,

NIXONjust now, the world was listening.

CHOUMay I...

NIXONThough we spoke quietly

NIXONthe eyes and ears of history

NIXONcaught every gesture...

CHOU... introduce...

NIXONand every word, transforming us

NIXONas we, transfixed...

CHOU... the Deputy

CHOUMinister of Security.

NIXON... made history.

NIXON** Our shaking hands were shaping time.

NIXONEach moments stands out sharp and clear. **

CHOU** ... Army **

CHOUMay I...

NIXONOn our flight over from Shangai

CHOUThe Minister...

NIXON... the countryside

NIXONlooked drab and grey. "Brueghel", Pat said.

NIXON"We came in peace for all mankind"

NIXONI said, and I was put in mind

NIXONof our Apollo astronauts

NIXONsimply...

CHOU... of the United States

NIXON... achieving a great human dream.

NIXONWe live in an unsettled time.

NIXONWho are our enemies?

NIXONWho are our friends?

NIXONThe Eastern Hemisphere beckoned to us,

NIXONand we have flown east of the sun,

NIXONwest of the moon across an ocean of distrust

NIXONfilled with the bodies of our lost;

NIXONthe earth’ s Sea of Tranquillity.

NIXONIt’ s prime time in the U.S.A.

NIXONyesterday night. They watch us now;

NIXONthe three main networks’ colors glow

NIXONlivid through drapes onto the lawn.

NIXONDishes are washed and homework done,

the dog and grandma fall asleep,

NIXONa car roars past playing loud pop,

is gone. As I look down the road

NIXONI know America is good at heart.

NIXONAn old cold warrior piloting towards

NIXONan unknown shore through shoals.

NIXONThe rats begin to chew the sheets.

NIXONThere’ s murmuring bellow.

NIXONNow there’ s ingratitude!

NIXONMy hand is steady as a rock.

NIXONA sound like mourning doves reaches my ears,

NIXONnobody is a friend of ours.

NIXON** Let’ s face it.

NIXONIf we don’ t succeed on this summit,

NIXONour name is mud.

NIXONWe’ re not out of the woods, not yet. **

To Chou

NIXONThe nation’ s heartland skips a beat

NIXONas our hands shield the spinning globe

NIXONfrom the flame throwers of the mob.

NIXONWe must press on. We know we want...

NIXONWhat?... Oh yes...

KISSINGERMr. President...

SYSTEMScene 2: Meeting with Mao

(The incandescent lamps are the lamps of Chairman

Mao’ s study. They are old-fashioned standard lamps

with tasselled shades. Books lie open everywhere, face

down or face up. The walls are filled with books, most

of them stuffed with long paper bookmark. Chairman

Mao Tse-tung is seated on one of several over-stuffed

brown slip-covered armchairs arranged in a semi-

circle. Several Chinese photographers slip into the

room, then President Nixon, Premier Chou En-lai

and Dr. Kissinger make their entrance. A girl secretary

(one of three who will sit on straight chairs behind

Mao and sing back-up) takes the Chairman’ s arm

and he hoists himself out of the chair and advances

to shake hands)

MAOI can’ t talk very well. My throat...

NIXONI’ m nearly speechless

NIXONwith delight just to be here

MAOWe’ re even then.

MAOThat is the right way to begin.

MAOOur common old friend Chiang Kai-shek

MAOwith all his virtues would not look

MAOtoo kindly on all this.

MAOWe seem to be beneath the likes of him.

MAOYou’ ve seen his latest speech?

NIXONYou bet.

NIXONIt was a scorcher. Still, he’ s spit

NIXONinto the wind before, and will again.

NIXONThat puts it into scale.

NIXONYou shouldn’ t despise Chiang.

MAONo fear of that.

MAOWe’ re followed his career for generations.

MAOThere’ s not much beneath our notice.

CHOUWe will touch

CHOUOn this in our communiqué.

(They sit down, and the photographers who have

snapped the handshakes continue to photograph

them. The Chairman and the President sit next to

one another at the center of the semi-circle while

the Premier sits next to the Chairman and Dr.

Kissinger sits next to the President, facing each

other, at its ends. The secretaries take their seats

behind the Chairman)

MAOAh, the philosopher! I see

MAOParis can spare you then.

KISSINGERThe Chairman

KISSINGERmay be gratified to hear

KISSINGERhe’ s read at Harvard.

KISSINGERI assign all four volumes.

MAOThose

MAObooks of mine aren’ t anything.

MAOIncorporate their words

MAOwithin a people’ s thought

MAOas poor men’ s common sense and try

MAOtheir strength on women’ s nerves,

MAOthen say they live.

NIXONThe Chairman’ s book enthralled

NIXONa nation, and have changed the world.

MAOI could not change it.

MAOI’ d be glad to think that in the neighborhood of Peking

MAOsomething will remain.

Let us turn our talk towards Taiwan,

NIXONVietnam and the problems there, Japan...

MAOSave that for the Premier.

MAOMy business is philosophy.

MAONow Doctor Kissinger...

KISSINGERWho me?

MAO... has made his reputation in

MAOForeign affairs.

NIXONMy right hand man.

You’ d never think to look at him

NIXONthat he’ s James Bond.

CHOUAnd all the time

CHOUhe’ s doing undercover work.

KISSINGERI had a cover.

MAOIn the dark

MAOall diplomats are gray.

CHOUOr

gris

CHOUwhen their work takes them to

Paris.

KISSINGERI pull the wool over their...

NIXONStop!

MAOHe pulls the wool over their lap.

NIXONHe’ s a consummate diplomat.

NIXONGirls think he’ s lukewarm

NIXONwhen he’ s hot.

MAOYou also dally with your girls?

NIXONHis girls, not mine.

KISSINGERHe never tells.

CHOUAnd this is an election year.

(The photographers have finished; Chou ushers

them out into the hall. When he returns he sits a

little straighter, as do the President and Dr. Kissinger.

Only Chairman Mao continues to lean back, his arms

over the chair’ s arms, as the conversation moves on)

MAOYou know we’ ll meet with your confrere

MAOthe Democratic candidate if he should win.

NIXONThat is a fate

NIXONwe hope you won’ t have to endure.

NIXONI’ d like to make another tour as President.

MAOYou’ ve got my vote.

MAOI back the man who’ s on the right.

KISSINGERWho’ s in the right you mean.

MAONo, no.

NIXONWhat they put forward

NIXONwe put through.

MAOI like right-wingers:

MAONixon, Heath...

NIXONDe Gaulle.

MAONo, not De Gaulle. I’ m loath

MAOto file him in that pigeonhole.

KISSINGERBut Germany’ s another tale.

MAOWe’ ve more than once led the right wing

MAOforward while text-book cadres swung

MAOback into goose-step, home at last.

MAOHow your most rigid theorist

MAOrevises as he goes along!

NIXONNow you’ re referring to Wang Ming,

NIXONChiang, Chang Kuo-tao and Li Li-san.

MAOI spoke generally.

MAOThe line we take now is a paradox.

MAOAmong the followers of Marx the extreme left,

MAOthe doctrinaire,

MAOtend to be fascist.

NIXONAnd the far right?

MAOTrue Marxism is called that by

MAOthe extreme left.

MAOOccasionally the true left calls

MAOa spade a spade and tells the left it’ s right.

CHOUYou’ ve said

CHOUthat there’ s a certain well-known tree

CHOUthat grows from nothing in a day,

CHOUlives only as a sapling,

CHOUdies just at its prime,

CHOUwhen good men raise

CHOUit as their idol.

NIXONNot the cross?

MAOThe Liberty Tree. Let it pass.

MAOI was a riddle, not a test.

MAOThe revolution does not last.

MAOIt is duration ... the regime

MAOsurvives in that, and not in time.

MAOWhile it is young in us it lives;

MAOwe can save it, it never saves.

KISSINGERAnd yours will last a thousand years.

MAOFounders come first,

MAOthen profiteers.

NIXONCapitalist?

MAOFishers of men.

MAOAn organized oblivion.

NIXONThe crane...

MAOLet us not be misled.

NIXONThe Yellow Crane has flown abroad.

NIXONThink of what we have lost and gained

NIXONsince forty-nine.

CHOUThe current trend suggests

CHOUthat China’ s future might...

NIXONMight break the Futures Market.

MAOThat would be a break.

MAONo doubt our plunge into the New York Stock Exchange

MAOwill line some pockets here and there.

MAOWill these investments be secure?

MAONo. Not precisely.

NIXONThere’ s the catch.

NIXONYou don’ t want China to be rich.

MAOYou want to bring your boys back home.

NIXONWhat if we do? Is that a crime?

MAOOur armies do not go abroad.

MAOWhy should they?

MAOWe have all we need:

MAOnew missionaries, businesslike,

MAOsurvey the field and the attack,

MAOpromise to change our rice to bread,

MAOand wash us in our brothers’ blood,

MAO** and give us beads **

MAOand crucify us on a cross of usury.

MAOAfter them come the Green Berets,

MAOinsuring their securities.

NIXONWhere it the Chinese people’ s faith?

MAOThe people’ s faith?

MAOAnother myth to sell bonds.

MAOIt’ s worked well for you.

MAOThe people are determined to divide the land

MAOto make it whole.

MAOPiecing the broken Golden Bowl

MAOthe world to come has come, is theirs.

MAOWe cried "Long live the Ancestors!",

MAOonce, it’ s "Long live the Living!" now.

NIXONHistory holds her breath.

MAOWe know the great silent majority

MAOwill bide its time.

KISSINGERThere you’ ve got me. I’ m lost.

CHOUThe Chairman means the dead.

NIXONConfucius...

MAOWe no longer need Confucius.

MAOLet him rot... no curse...

MAOWords decompose to feed their source...

Old leaves absorbed into the tree

MAOto grow again as branches.

MAOThey sprang from the land,

MAOthey are alike its food and dung.

MAOUpon a rock you may well build your tomb,

MAObut give us the earth, and we’ ll dig a grave.

MAOA hundred years and ears may press hard

MAOto the ground to hear his voice.

MAOPlatonic men freed from the caves of Pao An

MAOwant to spend their lives in the daylight,

MAOto hear the sound of industry borne on the wind:

MAOthe plow breaking the furrow,

MAOcloth pierced by the needle,

MAOgiant earth movers and these men want to work,

not turn back, dazzled, to the dark...

MAOEchoes, shadows and chains.

MAOSuch men will drive away the Yellow Crane

MAOat last to harness the Yangtze.

Another generation may turn up Confucius’

MAOchina guard waiting in bunkers for their lord.

NIXONLike the Ming Tombs.

NIXONI think this leap forward to light is the first step

NIXONof all our youth, all nations’ youth;

NIXONour duty is to show them both their future

NIXONand our past, the fire and the noon glare.

NIXONHow they inspire our poor dry bones,

NIXONput us in mind of our forgotten dreams!

NIXONWe send children on our crusades,

NIXONwe bring children our countries, right or wrong.

NIXONThen we retire.

NIXONFathers and sons, let us join hands,

NIXONmake peace for once.

NIXONHistory is our mother,

NIXONwe best do her honor in this way.

MAOHistory is a dirty sow:

if we by chance escape her maw

MAOshe overlies us.

NIXONThat’ s true, sure.

NIXONAnd yet we still must seize the hour

NIXONand seize the day.

CHOUYou overlook the fact that hands are raised to strike,

CHOUhands are stretched out to seize their kill.

CHOUHere where we stand, beyond the pale,

CHOUYour outstretched hand, the Russian’ s wave,

CHOUappear ambiguous.

CHOUForgive my bluntness.

CHOU**

NIXONThere’ s no reason why you should trust us.

NIXONI’ ll never say I’ ll do something I cannot do,

NIXONand I’ ll do more then you can know.

NIXONBut since you do not know me,

NIXONplease don’ t trust me.

NIXONWait. These may be lies.

KISSINGERI can vouch for the President. **

(The Premier has been discreetly glancing at his watch

for some time. Now he stands up, and the President and

Dr. Kissinger follow his example. Chairman Mao is

assisted by his secretaries as he hauls himself up.

Walking slowly and talking, they take their leave)

MAOI’ m growing old and soft

MAOand won’ t demand your overthrow.

NIXONYour life is known to all.

NIXONIt’ s a relief to think I may be spared.

MAOI thought you might be overwhelmed!

NIXONMy feet are firmly planted on the ground,

NIXONlike yours, like you I take my stand among poor people.

NIXONWe can talk.

MAO"Six Crises" isn’ t a bad book.

NIXONHe reads too much.

CHOUAh, who can say?

NIXONHas study given Chairman Mao

NIXONan iron constitution?

MAONo.

(The Chairman sees his visitors offstage and

shuffles back to his books)

MAOFounders come first, then profiteers.

SYSTEMSECRETARIES

MAOFounders come first, then profiteers.

They write it down

SYSTEMScene 3: The great hall of the people

(It is the evening of the first day. The Americans are

being feted in the Great Hall of the People. Outside,

the roof is outlined by strings of lights, inside there

are tables set for nine hundred. Against the far wall

a small dais supports a bank of microphones. The

American and Chinese flags are pinned against that

wall. The President and the First Lady sit on either side

of the Premier, their backs to the flags, and gaze across

a snowy field of table linen. There is their party, there

the newsmen, there the important Chinese. In the

distance the vision begins to blur. The atmosphere is

convivial; in that huge hall the President feels strangely

joyful and lightheaded, as if this were the evening of

arrival in heaven. And so the conversation rises and

falls throughout the courses of the banquet)

NIXONThe night is young.

PATA long, long trail unwinding towards my dreams,

PATuphill right to the very last frontier,

PATand then we’ re home. I love you dear.

NIXONYou must be worn out.

PATNo, I washed and rested,

PATso I feel refreshed.

PATBut you...

NIXONThis air agrees with me.

NIXONWish we could send some to D.C.

NIXONI’ ve never felt so good.

PATI saw a snow moon on our way here. Snow!

PATSnow over China! Think of that!

PATIt makes me shiver.

NIXONJust you wait until the toasting starts.

NIXONBetween the booze and praise you’ ll warm up then.

PATIt may go to my head.

NIXONIt may, and I might be a Russian spy.

PATSeriously...

NIXONYou saw the moon in clouds and forecast snow.

NIXONGo on.

PATBe a peacemaker, Premier Chou.

CHOUAll Mrs. Nixon says is true enough.

The pressure’ s falling fast.

CHOUI feel it in my bones.

NIXONAt least this Great Hall of the People

NIXONstands like a fortress against

NIXONthe winds whatever their direction.

NIXONYet the west wind heralds spring.

CHOUI doubt that spring has come.

Take a deep breath and you can taste it. It’ s the truth.

Although there’ s more snow still to fall,

PATthe spring’ s as good as here.

KISSINGERMeanwhile we sit together in the cold.

CHOUHuddled for warmth you mean?

CHOUBut could we not take some encouragement

CHOUfrom this appearance of détente?

To Chou

NIXONHe can’ t hear you. He’ s miles away.

NIXONA Frenchman once observed to me

NIXON"At the edge of the Rubicon men don’ t go fishing".

NIXONI know one statesman who thinks a fishing trip

NIXONwill help him land the Great White Hope.

CHOUIntelligence is no bad thing.

NIXONIt’ s Henry’ s trump card. This stuffs strong poison.

CHOUA universal cure, or so we call it over here.

(After the third course is finished, Premier Chou

rises to toast his American guest)

SYSTEMCHORUS

CHOUShh, shh.

CHOULadies and gentlemen,

CHOUcomrades and friends, we have begun

CHOUto celebrate the different ways

CHOUthat led us to this mountain pass,

CHOUthis summit where we stand.

Look down and think what we have undergone.

CHOUFuture and past lie far below half-visible.

CHOUWe marvel now that we survived those battles,

CHOUtook those shifting paths,

CHOUblasted that rock to lay those rails.

CHOUThrough the cold night,

CHOUuncompromising lines of thought

CHOUattempted to find common ground

CHOUwhere their militias might contend,

CHOUconfident that the day would come

CHOUfor shadow-boxers to strike home.

CHOUWe saw by the first light of dawn

CHOUthe outlined cities of the plain,

CHOUand see them still, surrounded by

CHOUthe pastures of their tenantry.

CHOUOn land we have not taken yet

CHOUinnumerable blades of wheat salute the sun.

CHOUOur children race downhill unflustered into peace.

CHOUWe will not sow their fields with salt,

CHOUor burn their standing crop.

CHOUWe built these terraces for them alone.

CHOUThe virtuous American and the Chinese

CHOUmake manifest their destinies in time.

CHOUWe toast that endless province whose frontier

CHOUwe occupy from hour to hour,

CHOUholding in perpetuity the ground our people

CHOUwon today from vision to inheritance.

CHOUAll patriots were brothers once:

CHOUlet us drink to the time

CHOUwhen they shall be brothers again.

Gam bei

CHOU!

President Nixon rises to respond

NIXONMr. Premier, distinguished guests,

NIXONI have attended many feasts

NIXONbut never have I so enjoyed a dinner,

NIXONnor have I heard placed better the music

NIXONthat I love outside America.

NIXONI move a vote of thanks to one

NIXONand all whose efforts made this possible.

NIXONNo one who heard could but admire

NIXONyour eloquent remarks, Premier,

NIXONand millions more hear what we say

NIXONthrough satellite technology

NIXONthan ever heard a public speech before.

NIXONNo one is out of touch telecommunication

NIXONhas broadcast your message into space.

NIXONYet soon our words won’ t be recalled

NIXONwhile what we do can change the world.

NIXONWe have at times been enemies,

NIXONwe still have differences, God knows.

NIXONBut let us, in these next five days,

NIXONstart a long march on new highways,

NIXONin different lanes, but parallel

NIXONand heading for a single goal.

NIXONThe world watches and listens.

NIXONWe must seize the hour and seize the day.

(President Nixon and Premier Chou toast each other,

then Mrs. Nixon. Caught up in the spirit of friendship,

the banqueters go from table to table toasting one

another while the band plays old favourites. The

banquet has become something very like a square

dance)

NIXONThis is the hour!

CHOUYour health!

PATAnd yours!

CHOUTo Doctor Kissinger!

NIXONCheers!

KISSINGERCheers!

KISSINGERNew friends and present company!

NIXONTo Chairman Mao!

CHOUThe U.S.A.!

PATHave you forgotten Washington?

CHOUWashington’ s birthday!

NIXONEveryone listen, just let me say one thing.

NIXONI opposed China. I was wrong.

KISSINGERBottoms up, Mr. President.

PATWhat did you say, Sweetheart?

PATI can’ t catch every word in all this noise.

SYSTEM1 CHORUS

PATWe have at times been enemies.

SYSTEM2 CHORUS

PATThe Chinese people are renowned.

NIXONIdeas we have entertained...

PAT"America the Beautiful"!

SYSTEM1 CHORUS

PATWe must broadcast seeds of goodwill.

SYSTEM2 CHORUS

PATComrades and friends...

NIXON... in former years grow in a night to touch the stars.

SYSTEMCHORUS

Look down and think what the Chinese people

NIXONhave done to earn this praise

KISSINGERYou won’ t believe how moved I am.

SYSTEMCHORUS

KISSINGERWe marvel now.

NIXONIt’ s like a dream.

SYSTEMACT TWO

SYSTEMScene 1: Mrs. Nixon views China

(It is morning of February 22, another cold day.

Although it is snowing, the First Lady wears no

protection for the blonde hair. She has gone off

on her own for a sight-seeing trip. Anti-American

posters have been torn off walls, market stalls are

piled with goods, children in snowsuits wave the

flag. Mrs. Nixon is "loving every minute of it". She

has just shaken hands with many of the one hundred

and fifteen kitchen workers at the Peking Hotel. Ahead

on her schedule are the Evergreen People’ s Commune,

the Summer Palace and the Ming Tombs. In the evening

there will bet the opera. The citizens of Peking,

seconded from their factories to clear the streets, look

up and smile as the knot of guides and reporters pauses

in its progress)

PATI don’ t daydream and don’ t look back,

PATin this world you can’ t count on luck.

PATI think what is to be will be in spite of us,

PATI treat each day like Christmas.

PATNever have I cared for trivialities. Good Lord!

PATTrivial things are not for me,

PATI come from a poor family.

PATThis little elephant in glass

PATbrings back so many memories.

PATThe symbol of our party, prize of our success,

PATour sacred cow surrounded by blind Brahmins,

PATslow Musclebound, well-dressed, half-awake,

PATwith Liberty upon her back.

PATTell me, is it one of a kind?

SYSTEMCHORUS

PATIt has been carefully designed

PATby workers at this factory.

PATThey can make hundreds every day.

PATWonderful!

SYSTEMCHORUS

Look down at the earth,

look down, look down;

PATdown from the north the snowstorm comes.

PATMile after mile on each side

PATof the ice-locked wall vanishes.

PATFar as you can see you cannot see the land or sky.

PATA living current moves beneath rivers caught

PATin the hand of death,

PATserpentine mountains cross the plain

PATto bask in an uncertain sun,

PATand elephantine hills rejoice advancing towards

PATa sky of ice.

PATThis country is so beautiful;

PATone fine day you will see it all.

(The tour moves away; it is time the First Lady saw the

Evergreen People’ s Commune and its model swine-

rearing facilities, People’ s Clinic, recreation building,

and school)

SYSTEMCHORUS

PATThis is the People’ s Clinic.

PATOuch! I think it’ s sort of rude to watch.

SYSTEMCHORUS

PAT"Do not distress yourself", she begs.

PATShe will get well. Come see the pigs.

PATI once raised a red-ribbon boar.

SYSTEMCHORUS

PATDo you think you could scratch his ear?

PATThank you.

PATAnd how was that?

SYSTEMCHORUS

PATJust fine.

SYSTEMCHORUS

PATHere are some children having fun.

PATThe children in the U.S.A. all say hello.

PATI used to be a teacher many years ago

PATand now I’ m here to learn from you.

(Smiling and waving, Mrs. Nixon and her entourage

leave the commune and proceed to the next stop on her

tour: the Summer Palace where she is photographed

strolling through the Hall of Benevolence and

Longevity, the Hall of Happiness in Longevity,

the Hall of Dispelling the Clouds, and the Pavilion

of the Fragrance of Buddha. She pauses in the gate

of Longevity and Good Will to sing)

PATThis is prophetic! I foresee a time will come when

PATluxury dissolves into the atmosphere like a perfume,

PATand everywhere the simple virtues root

PATand branch and leaf and flower.

PATOn that bench there we’ ll relax

PATand taste the fruit of all our actions.

PATWhy regret life which is so much like a dream?

PATLet the eternal plan resume.

PATIn the bedroom communities let us be taken by surprise.

PATYes! Let the band play on and on,

PATlet the stand-up comedian finish his act,

PATlet Gypsy Rose kick off her high-heeled party shoes;

PATlet interested businessmen speculate further,

PATlet routine dull the edge of mortality.

PATLet days grow imperceptibly longer,

PATlet the sun set in cloud;

PATlet lonely drivers on the road pull over for a bite to eat,

PATlet the farmer switch on the light over the porch,

PATlet passer by look in at the large family

PATaround the table, let them pass.

PATLet the expression on the face

PATof the Statue of Liberty change just a little,

PATlet her see what lies inland:

PATacross the plain one man is marching...

PATthe Unknown Soldier has risen from his tomb,

PATlet him be recognized at home.

The Prodigal. Give him his share:

PATthe eagle nailed to the barn door.

PATLet him be quick.

PATThe sirens wail as bride

PATand groom kiss through the veil.

PATBless this union with all its might,

PATlet it remain inviolate.

(There is some clapping, then the First Lady is ushered

into the limousine for the ride to the Ming Tombs,

where ancient Chinese emperors were laid to rest.

It is about four o’ clock in the afternoon and the warm-

colored light which precedes sunset in the very early

spring illuminates the limestone statues. Or are they

sandstone? The First Lady pats the pockmarked leg

of an archaic elephant. She has put on her mink hat

during the drive. She revels in the quiet ... no traffic,

no airplanes, no loudspeakers, only the sound of the

human voice and the sound of footsteps on flagstones

and new snow)

PATAt last the weather’ s warming up.

PATLook! The skins clear now.

SYSTEMCHORUS

PATWatch your step.

PATI said it would, remember?

SYSTEMCHORUS

PATPlease, Mrs. Nixon, watch...

PATOh yes.

PATAnd look! Another elephant!

PATWhy hello, Jumbo! I was meant to come here.

PATWhat a lovely park!

PATTime for a picnic?

SYSTEMCHORUS 1

PATThey could work stone in those days.

SYSTEMCHORUS 2

PATLabor was cheap.

SYSTEMCHORUS 1

PATMen dug their own graves.

SYSTEMCHORUS 2

PATThey rose up.

PATLike statues covered in the dust of their creation.

SYSTEMCHORUS 1

PATCommunist elements!

SYSTEMCHORUS 2

PATMen like these behold each revolution of the world.

SYSTEMCHORUS 1

PATSwimming through space as fish swim through the sea.

SYSTEMCHORUS 2

PATResting in currents.

SYSTEMCHORUS 1

PATThough they got two bowls of rice a day.

SYSTEMCHORUS 2

PATThe salt was black.

SYSTEMCHORUS 1

PATThey drank white tea.

PATIt rounds like you remember them.

SYSTEMCHORUS

PATWe should go back now.

PATWhat a shame!

(The First Lady takes the arm of her interpreter...

a friendly gesture... as the group turns back towards

the limousine whose engine has been running for some

time. The sun is setting, the west is red, and the moon

is clearly visible. Mrs. Nixon may be supposed to be

thinking about her bath and the outfit she will wear

to the ballet)

SYSTEMScene 2: Opera of Pekin

(The curtain rises to reveal an audience. Madame

Mao, in a dark Sun Yatsen suit and black-rimmed

men’ s glasses, sits between the President and Mrs.

Nixon, Mrs. Nixon, who has changed her scarlet

costume for a pastel-colored one, has been exchanging

small talk with the Premier, who sits on her other side.

We have only a few seconds to grasp these details

before another curtain rises onstage. Three beautiful

young women are chained to posts. The First Lady

sits forward a little, as, indeed, does the President.

The young women wear rags ... and defiantly new ballet

shoes. This is the opening of The Red Detachment of

Women. The dancer in the center, the proudest one, the

one most heavily laden with chains, is Wu Ching-hua,

the heroine. We understand that they are in the lock-up

of an estate on a tropical island. Two women step from

their posts and begin a furious dance. Ching-hua

stands stock-still. Three contraltos from the chorus

sing)

SYSTEMCHORUS

PATYoung as we

PATare we expect fear,

PATevery year

PATmore of us bow

PATbeneath the shadow

PATof the next blow.

PATDown on all fours

PATour grandfathers

PATswallow abuse

PATas if by choice

PATthe humble flesh

kisses the lash,

PATspit and polish,

PATpolish and spit

PATblacken the boot

PATand they submit,

embrace the foot,

PATcushion the kick:

PATrabbit and snake

PATdance cheek to cheek.

PATwe are awake,

PATwe know these matters,

PAThow the poor debtors

PATstill sell their daughters,

PAThow in the drought

PATmen still grow fat

PATon the profit

PATwon grain by grain

PATfrom other men

PATcaught in the famine

PATwho trade their oxen

PATfor a day’ s ration;

PATthen the plow goes,

PATthen tools, then clothes,

PATat last the land.

PATWhere is the bound,

PATnaked and stunned’

PATHand over hand

PAThe drags his skin.

Look at him grin

PAThe can’ t complain.

Look at that thing

PATthat was his tongue

PAThe won’ t be long.

(Lao Szu, the land lord’ s factotum, enters, accompanied

by a guard. Singing to himself, he fumbles with his keys

and Ching-hua’ s shackles)

as Lao Szu

KISSINGEROh what a day!

KISSINGERI thought I’ d die!

KISSINGERThat luscious thigh

KISSINGERthat swelling breast

KISSINGERscented and greased,

KISSINGERa sacrifice

KISSINGERrunning with juice

KISSINGERat my caress.

KISSINGERShe was so hot

KISSINGERI was hard-put

KISSINGERto be polite

KISSINGERwhen the first cut

KISSINGER... Come on you slut!...

KISSINGERScored her brown skin

KISSINGERI started in,

KISSINGERman upon hen!

(Ching-hua embraces the other women. They

dance while the women in the chorus sing)

SYSTEMCHORUS

as Ching-hua

KISSINGERHow thin you are!

KISSINGERIf every scar

KISSINGERon this poor back

KISSINGERcould only speak,

KISSINGERthese walls would crack,

KISSINGERthis thick-walled heart

KISSINGERcast in the dirt

KISSINGERwould raise the cry

KISSINGER"Hate Tyranny!"

(Suddenly she seizes the whip from Lao Szu’ s hand,

brandishes it, and kicks him to the ground. Just as

the guard lays hands on her, the two women fling

themselves on the guard and Lao Szu. Ching-hua

escapes)

SYSTEMCHORUS

as Ching-hua

KISSINGERThe land outside

KISSINGERthis cell is red,

KISSINGERrunning with blood,

KISSINGERhot in the sun

KISSINGERwe have not seen

KISSINGERnot until now

KISSINGERnow let me through!

PATDoesn’ t he look like you know who!

(At once the scene changes to the coconut

grove. Mercenaries in battle dress run,

crouching slightly,

through the clearing.

Ching-hua enters, dancing. She is quick

and wary and eludes the dispersing troops)

SYSTEMCHORUS

as Ching-hua

PATCan’ t find the path...

PATMust find the path...

(She collides with Lao Szu. They struggle.

He torments her with the cane. The mercenaries

re-enter)

as Lao Szu

KISSINGERWhip her to death!

PATThey can’ t do that!

NIXONIt’ s just a play.

NIXONShe’ ll get up afterwards, you’ ll see.

NIXONEasy there, Hon.

as Lao Szu

KISSINGERWhip her to death!

PATIt’ s terrible! I hare you both!

PATMake them stop, make them stop!

Sweetheart. Leave them alone, you might get hurt.

(The First Lady rushes onstage. The president, who has

reluctantly followed her, holds her by the shoulders as

Ching-hua is beaten insensible. She has resisted to the

last)

as Lao Szu

KISSINGERThis is the fate of all who

KISSINGERset small against great.

Leave it to rot.

(The sky looks ominous. Tyrant, factotum and

mercenaries all retreat in the face of a tropical storm.

Rain pelts down. The coconut palms bow like grass.

The President and the First Lady stand onstage with

the body of Ching-hua, the recumbent dancer. He is

stunned, she is rapt, they are both soaked to the skin)

KISSINGER**

NIXONThere there, there there. Jesus it’ s wet.

NIXONWhat would I do without you, Pat? **

(As quickly as it rose the wind dies down and with in

the rain. Party Representative Hung Chang-ching

enters on a scouting mission. Together he and Mrs.

Nixon raise Ching-hua to her feet)

PATThank God you came. Just look at this!

PATPoor thing! It’ s simple barbarous!

PAT"Whip her to death!" he said. I’ d like

PATto give his God-Damned whip a crack!

PATOh Dick! You’ re sopping!

(Hung Chiang Ch'ing is filled with deep proletarian

feelings for this peasant’ s daughter who has suffered so

bitterly. He offers her a glass of orange juice. It is the

first act of kindness she has ever known. Trembling, she

raises the glass with both hands and drinks. Then the

clouds part, the sky is filled with a blaze of light, and

the full detachment of the Red Women’ s Militia enters

in formation and unfurls its banners. Entry March of

the Women’ s Company. Hung Chiang Ch'ing points to

the company and to the flags waving in the rain-washed

air, inviting Ching-hua to join her fellow workers and

peasants in the People’ s Army. Everyone cheers as

Hung presents her with a rifle and she joins her

comrades in a spirited drill. Target Practice and

Bayonet Dance)

SYSTEMCHORUS

PATFlesh rebels

PATthe body pulls

PATthose inflamed soul

PATthat mark its trials

PATinto the war.

PATArm this soldier!

PATRise up in arms!

PATTropical storms

PATuproot the palms

PATending their sway.

PATThe Red Army

PATshowed us the way.

PATFrom the scorched earth

PATpeople step forth

PATover dead wood

PATand over the dead.

PATFollow their lead.

PATThe hand grenade

PATbeats in the chest;

PATlet the heart burst,

PATlet the clenched first

PATstrike the first blow

PATfor Chairman Mao

PATand overthrow

PATthe tyrant, and

PATshare out the land.

PATShare out the land,

PATunclench the first,

PATlet the heart burst

PATand sow broadcast

PATthe dragon’ s teeth

PATyour kin and kith

PATseed of your seed

PATyour flesh and blood.

(The scene changes to the courtyard of the tyrant’ s

mansion. Sleek Kuomintang officers, political bosses

and well-fed farmers celebrate their host’ s birthday.

Waiters pour wine as the guards display their military

training. Dance of the Mercenaries. Hung Chiang

Ch'ing enters, dressed as a foreign merchant. He

is accompanied by the President, who presents the

doorman with a red-and-gilt card. Lao Szu rushes

to greet these exotic guests)

as Lao Szu

KISSINGERI have my brief.

KISSINGERI flatter myself.

KISSINGERI know my man.

KISSINGERThe

sine qua non

KISSINGERthe face on the coin.

KISSINGERYou see what I mean.

KISSINGERThe empire builder,

KISSINGERthe man with his shoulder

KISSINGERagainst the roulette wheel:

KISSINGERhe stands like a stone wall

KISSINGERand sticks of success.

KISSINGERI’ m here to liaise

KISSINGERwith the backroom boys

KISSINGERwho know how to live.

KISSINGERAnd me, I contrive

KISSINGERto catch a few crumbs...

KISSINGERThe ringleaders’ names

KISSINGERThe gist of their schemes...

KISSINGERLoose change.

NIXONHere friend, something for you.

NIXONYou’ re talking like a real pro.

(The President hands a few coins to Lao Szu and

Hung Chiang Ch'ing tosses a handful of small change

to the guards, who scramble on the ground and fight

among themselves. Embarrassed, Lao Szu orders his

men to fetch the entertainment. A number of serving

girls enter, dressed mostly in flowers. They are

members of the Red Women’ s Militia. The guards

compel them to dance. Grimly the girls begin to execute

a colorful Li Nationality Dance. Only one of them

allows her anger to break the surface. It is Ching-hua.

Her eyes sweep the crowded courtyard, resting briefly

on Lao Szu. Madame Mao has risen from her chair in

the audience. She raises one hand and points to Ching-

hua)

SYSTEMCHORUS

as Ching-hua

NIXONIt seems so strange

NIXONto take revenge

NIXONafter so long

NIXONto find the wrong

NIXONcan be undone.

NIXONThe silent gun

NIXONwarms in my hand

NIXONsalving the wound

NIXONmade by the men

NIXONit will gun down

NIXONall in good time

NIXONI shall kill them.

NIXONYes, every one.

NIXONRevenge is mine

SYSTEMCHIANG CH’ ING

NIXONThat is your cue.

(Ching-hua produces an automatic pistol and fires two

shorts. But it was not her cue. The company is stunned.

PATShe’ s started shooting, Dick

NIXONI know.

SYSTEMCHORUS

NIXONOh no!

SYSTEMCHIANG CH’ ING

NIXONWhat are you gaping at?

NIXONForward Red Troupe! Annihilate

NIXONthis tyrant and his running dogs!

NIXONOh no!

SYSTEMCHIANG CH’ ING

NIXONThrow off those stupid rags!

NIXONAdvance and fire! Fix bayonets!

NIXONThe worms are hungry!

NIXONMust the fruits of victory

NIXONrot on the vine?

(Offering only a token resistance, the mercenaries

break and scatter, throwing aside their weapons as

they run. The red flag rises over the mansion. Peasants

push through the broken gates, weeping for joy)

NIXON**

PATIs Henry okay?

NIXONChrist he’ s gone. **

(The granary has been opened. The President takes

on the task of distributing grain to the hungry peasants.

Meanwhile, the company, led by Hung Chiang Ch'ing

severely rebukes Ching-hua and disarms her. She

is deeply distressed. For a moment Madame Mao,

standing in their midst, seems almost left out. Then

she begins to sing)

SYSTEMCHORUS

NIXONAre you one of us?

NIXONYou are what you choose.

NIXONYour paradise

NIXONbegins are ends

NIXONin open wounds

NIXONand self-abuse

NIXONwhere your heart is.

NIXONYour sacred heart

NIXONIs rotten meat;

NIXONYour little treasure,

NIXONyour precious flower,

NIXONyour sweet revenge.

NIXONNothing can change

NIXONwithout discipline.

NIXONGive me that gun.

SYSTEMHUNG CHIANG CH’ ING

NIXONI am the wife of Mao Tse-tung

NIXONwho raised the weak above the strong.

NIXONWhen I appear the people hang

NIXONupon my words, and for his sake

NIXONwhose wreaths are heavy round my neck

NIXONI speak according to the book.

NIXONWhen did the Chinese people last

NIXONexpose its daughters? At the breast

NIXONof history I sucked and pissed,

NIXONthoughtless and heartless, red and blind,

NIXONI cut my teeth upon the land

NIXONand when I walked my feet were bound

NIXONon revolution. Let me be

NIXONa grain of sand in heaven’ s eye

NIXONand I shall taste eternal joy.

(The people express their bitterness against

counter-revolutionary elements)

SYSTEMACT THREE

SYSTEMScene 1: Last night in Pekin

(It is the last night in Peking. The President is very,

very tired: the lights do not flatter him. The First Lady

looks fragile and heavily powdered. Madame Mao is

smaller than they had remembered her. And Chou En-

lai seems old and quite worn out. Only Chairman Mao

appears at his best, full of the joy of youth and the hope

of revolution in his picture on the wall. Dr. Kissinger is

impatient. He scratches the back of his neck, his nose,

and his ear)

KISSINGERSome men you cannot satisfy.

NIXONThat’ s what I tell them.

KISSINGERThey can’ t say you didn’ t tell them.

NIXONIt’ s no good.

NIXONAll that I say is misconstrued.

To Pat

NIXONYour lipstick’ s crooked.

PATIs it? Oh.

PATThere isn’ t much that I can do,

PATis there? Who’ s seen my handkerchief?

CHOUPlease accept mine.

SYSTEMHUNG CHIANG CH’ ING

CHOUI’ ve heard enough.

CHOUWho chose these numbers?

KISSINGERAll of us.

KISSINGERDoesn’ t she like the people’ s choice?

NIXONNow for a solo on the spoons!

PATI like it when they play our tunes.

SYSTEMHUNG CHIANG CH’ ING

PATThis should be better. Hit it, boys!

PATOh! California! Hold me close.

MAOI am no one.

CHOUWe fight, we die.

CHOUAnd if we do not fight we die.

KISSINGERThat’ s how it goes.

MAOI am unknown.

MAOGive me a cigarette.

SYSTEMHUNG CHIANG CH’ ING

MAOCome down.

MAOGive me your hand, old man.

MAOWhy not?

SYSTEMHUNG CHIANG CH’ ING

To Mao

MAOLet’ s dance.

MAOGive me a cigarette.

(She takes his hand and he climbs out of the portraits’

background)

CHOUAnd to what end? Tell me.

KISSINGERPremier, Please, where’ s the toilet?

CHOUThrough that door.

KISSINGERExcuse me for one moment, please.

Kissinger exits at the double

CHOUWe saw our parents’ nakedness;

CHOUrivers of blood will be required

CHOUto cover them. Rivers of blood.

PATI squeezed your pay check till it screamed,

PATthere was the rent, there were those damned

PATslipcovers, and the groceries.

NIXONYou made that place a home.

PATThat place was heaven next to this.

Mao and Chiang Ch’ ing begin to dance

PAT**

NIXONYou should think positive. Try not to brood.

PATThe trouble was,

PATwe moved too much.

PATWe should have stayed put,

PATDick.

SYSTEMHUNG CHIANG CH’ ING

PATWe’ ll teach these motherfuckers how to dance!

CHOUIt makes me sick. **

MAOWe did this once before

SYSTEMHUNG CHIANG CH’ ING

MAOOh? When?

MAOIt was the time that tasty little starlet came

MAOto infiltrate my headquarters.

SYSTEMHUNG CHIANG CH’ ING

MAOGo on!

PATI thank my lucky stars

PATI kept those letters that you wrote

PATfrom the Pacific. Seems like that

PATwas the best time of all; you had

PATmy picture, and each night I read your mind.

NIXONWhat an idealist.

CHOUA bankrupt people repossessed

CHOUthe ciphers of its history

CHOUand not one character could say

CHOUwhether the war was over yet

CHOUor if they’ d written off the debt.

MAOWhat did she call herself? Lan P’ ing?

SYSTEMHUNG CHIANG CH’ ING

MAOYou named me. I was very young.

NIXONThere was so much I couldn’ t tell.

PATSuch as?

MAOYou were a little fool.

SYSTEMHUNG CHIANG CH’ ING

MAOAnd your best pupil.

CHOUIn Yenan we were just boys.

MAORevolution is a boys’ game.

CHOUI have grown old and done no more work than a child.

NIXONSitting round the radio

NIXONwith the enlisted men, I knew

NIXONmy time had come. The signal cleared

NIXONtransmitting nothing like a word.

NIXONThere was a cross round one guy’ s neck.

NIXONI noticed that.

PATYou told me, Dick.

NIXONThe corrugated metal roof

NIXONshook in the rain.

NIXONThe men were safe.

NIXONI said goodbye to you then, Pat.

PATDid you?

NIXONThen I began to wait.

NIXONThe rain seeped in under the door.

NIXONThe lights went out.

PATYou told me, dear.

NIXONThat was the time I should have died.

MAOLet us examine what you did.

MAOwe led a quiet life,

MAOwe grew stronger,

MAOwe walked behind the plow.

MAOAnd as we worked year after year

MAOthe yellow dust that filled the air

MAOsoftened the Buddha’ s well-known face

MAOand made him seem like one of us

SYSTEMHUNG CHIANG CH’ ING

MAOWe ate wild apricots.

CHOUThe taste is in my mouth.

CHOUOnce we had roast

CHOUand a light film of dust

CHOUsettled on each plate.

CHOUYour few subjectivist mistakes ...

SYSTEMHUNG CHIANG CH’ ING

CHOUSmall lizards basked among the rocks,

CHOUwarm as your hand.

MAOOnly confirm mythology’ s eternal charm;

MAOroused from a state of seeming rest

MAOits landscape offers up the ghost,

an ancient tactical retreat,

MAOretrenched in the inanimate.

MAOThese things were men.

NIXONWhen I woke up

NIXONI dimly realized the Jap

NIXONbombers had given us a miss...

NIXON** It was the weather I suppose **

PATThank heaven for that.

NIXONThen I went out already it was meeting hot,

NIXONa cloud of steam rose from the base

NIXONjust like a Roman sacrifice.

PATI never doubted you’ d come back.

PATI always knew.

NIXONI felt so weak with disappointment and relief

NIXONeverything seemed larger than life.

CHOUI have no offspring. In my dreams

CHOUthe peasants with their hundred names,

CHOUunnamed children and nameless wives

deaden my footsteps like dead leaves;

CHOUno one I killed, but those I saw

CHOUstarved to death.

MAOSaved from our decay.

MAOAdmire that perfect skeleton,

MAOthose veins, that skin like cellophane.

MAOTake them and press them in a book.

MAODare we behave as if the meek

MAOwill mark the places of the wise?

SYSTEMHUNG CHIANG CH’ ING

MAOThe masses stride ahead of us.

MAOWe follow.

CHOUOnly they can tell how the land lies,

CHOUwhere the pitfall was excavated, the mines laid...

MAOThe instant before bombs explode

MAOintricate struggles coexist within an entity,

MAOembraced till they ignite.

SYSTEMHUNG CHIANG CH’ ING

MAOI can keep still,

MAOI can say footing for a while,

MAOwhile the sparks die high in the air

MAOthe sun moves on. Nothing I fear

MAOhas ever harmed me, why should you?

MAOMarshal your forces, I’ ll lie low.

MAOThe drought has made me thin and strong.

MAOWhen they took off their coasts and hung

MAOthem over branches, and the pick

MAOscraped this eroded ground,

MAOI shook with pure excitement.

NIXONAfter that...

PATA penny for your thoughts.

NIXONThe sweat had soaked my uniform,

NIXON** my hair dripped down my forehead... **

PATDid it dear?

PATYou’ ve always suffered terribly

PATfrom nervous perspiration.

NIXONI began to take in all the sights.

NIXONPicture a thousand coconuts

NIXONlike mandrills’ heads or native masks,

NIXONmilk oozing from their broken husks,

NIXONthe flooded rib of a palm frond

NIXONwhere several centipedes had drowned,

NIXONunsanded wood that smelled like meat...

NIXONJesus, it grabbed you by the throat.

PATWonder what I was doing then?

PATDressing up as if you’ d walk in at any moment.

PATGo on, dear.

PATDon’ t let me interrupt.

NIXONThe war was dislocated. Hold a shell

NIXONup to your ear. Guadalcanal

NIXONsounds distant, roughly like the sea.

MAOAs they advance

MAOwe melt away into the underbrush;

MAOwe strike while they’ re asleep,

MAOa single spark sets them alight.

Cast the net wide and draw it in.

CHOUThe east is red;

CHOUas we ride eastwards to Peking

CHOUpreoccupied with our last long

CHOUtriumphant march, the early light

CHOUembalms each soldier on the route

CHOU**

MAOWell said! **

SYSTEMHUNG CHIANG CH’ ING

MAOPeking watches the stars,

MAONanking slips naked.

MAOMurderers stretch out in doorways in Shanghai.

MAOChungking’ s old-fashioned armory lies undefended.

MAOYenan rests like a wise virgin.

MAOAll the coasts are clear,

MAOand all the oceans still as we ride eastwards.

MAOWe recoil from victory and all its works.

MAOWhat do you think of that, Karl Marx?

MAOSpeak up!

SYSTEMHUNG CHIANG CH’ ING

MAOWe should go underground.

MAOThe revolution must not end.

MAOAs we ride eastwards to Peking

MAOI shut my eyes and, listening

MAOHard, hear the old harmonium

MAOwe left behind, I-I-I dream

MAOthat shoals of small transparent fish

MAOrace down a shallow river.

SYSTEM** HUNG CHIANG CH’ ING

MAOHush.

PATYou won at poker.

NIXONI sure did.

NIXONI had a system. Five-card stud

NIXONtaught me a lot about mankind.

NIXONSpeak softly and don’ t show your hand

NIXONbecame my motto.

PATTell me more.

NIXONWell, the Pacific theater

NIXONwas not much to write home about.

PATYes, dear. I think you told me that.

PATI read it while I did my hair

PATand put it in my stocking drawer

PATwith all the others.

NIXONI was "Nick".

NIXONI must have told you that.

PATYes, Dick.

NIXONChrist, it was beautiful.

NIXONI swapped spam for hamburger meat

NIXONand roped in a few men to rig a stand.

NIXONThey called it "Nick’ s Snack Shack".

NIXONI found the smell of burgers on the grill

NIXONmade strong men cry.

NIXONNow, Bougainville was a refuelling stop...

PATI know.

PATEach fighter pilot that came through got

PATa free burger and a beer.

Done to a turn:

NIXONmedium – rare,

NIXONrare, medium, well-done, anything you say.

NIXONThe Customer is King.

NIXONSorry we’ re low on relish. Drinks?

NIXONThis is my way of saying thanks.

CHOUI am old and I cannot sleep forever,

CHOUlike the young, nor hope

CHOUthat death will be a novelty

CHOUbut endless wakefulness when

I put down my work and go to bed.

CHOUHow much of what we did was good?

CHOUEverything seems to move beyond our remedy.

CHOUCome, heal this wound.

CHOUAt this hour nothing can be done.

CHOUJust before dawn the birds begin,

CHOUthe warblers who prefer the dark,

CHOUthe cage-birds answering. To work!

CHOUOutside this room the chill of grace

CHOUlies heavy on the morning grass.