two poems

by Vern Fein

CIRCUMSTANCES

“ It is far easier to make war, than peace.”— Georges Clemenceau

may well determine history,
far more real than the best laid plans of men.
In 1914 the Archduke and Duchess of Austro-Hungary
traveled to make peace in a dangerous area.
On the return the driver had the wrong map.
Trapped them in an alley where a nobody
caught and Glocked them and WW I
blew up, killing ten million in four years.

Five years later, three white men,
Wilson, US,
Clemenceau, France,
Lloyd George. Britain
had the hubris to remap the world
as if they were gods.

Created Yugoslavia which fell apart
in genocidal violence
Carved out Iraq and
we know how that turned out.

A cloud cover saved Kokura, Japan.
Too hard to see, “Fat Boy”
destroyed over 50,00 in
second choice Nagasaki
in less than five minutes.

Rejected the freedom petition
of a waiter in France,
Ho Chi Minh of Viet Nam
and killed 4 million Vietnamese,
57,000 American GI’s.
The best laid plans of mice too
are often ruled by circumstances.

INCOMPETENCE

In 1943, disillusioned German officers
planned to assassinate Hitler.

History hangs on skill or incompetence.
Disgruntled Nazi officers
plotted to gift
der Führer
with a bomb in a whiskey package,
but the mis-wired detonator
on the plane didn’t go off.

An unnamed man did not do it right.
He must have been chosen
for his competence.
A dud bomb meant certain
death for the gifters.

When they arrested the doomed officers,
the failed bomber was among them.
Terrible grief in the prison
prior to the hangings.

I am sure he was very careful
and tried his best.
We can only guess if the lives
of millions of humans
may have been saved.

BIO: A recent octogenarian who started writing at 76, Vern Fein, has published over 300 poems and short prose pieces in over 100 different sites. A few are: Gyroscope Review, Young Raven’s Review, Bindweed, *82 Review, River And South, Grey Sparrow Journal, and One Art. His second poetry book—REFLECTION ON DOTS—was released late last year.