Whew!

historical nursery rhyme for adults

Let's all lift a glass to Arkhopov, Vasily,
who saved all our lives in the sixties. No Really.
His reputation was surely a factor;
he'd braved radiation to save a reactor
so he was made mate for valor so fine,
of a nuclear sub, a B-59
patrolling outside Cuba's quarantine line.
Destroyers saw tell-tale submarine sign;
not knowing a nuclear threat was a large,
tried forcing it up with a minor depth-charge.
which gave all the Russians some terrible frights
and knocked out the power except for some lights
and forced CO2 up to near-lethal heights.
The captain got nervous and had little doubt
that nuclear war had now broken out
but three votes were needed for launching a nuke.
The others cried out they'd be killed by a kook.
Two men said yes, but Vasily said no
and that was the day that the Earth didn't blow.