The Lecture

 

I was gathering my notes
I had a lecture that afternoon
"The 'Final Solution'-The Nazi Genocide"
I would stand on a pulpit 
And denounce those atrocities 
That still shocked the world
More than half a century on.

Then I switched on the radio
To listen to the news
And frowned as I heard
The voice of a hated politician
He is not one of us, I thought
Who did he think he was,
Standing for office in our constituency? 

It was our turn to eat
And these greedy enemies of our tribe
Had stolen and profited
Off our land for too long
In times like these 
Men take up weapons
And go to war. 

The women who were raped;
The children who were orphaned-
Their innocence shattered
Their dreams stifled;
The men who were maimed; 
The elderly defiled-
Collateral damage; sad,but necessary.

But where was I?
Ah, yes, I was writing the conclusion
To the lecture I must give
And my mind turned back
To Dachau, and Auschwitz, and Sobibor
And Hitler, and Goebbels, and Himmler
And the genocide, the murder, the outrage-

And I was filed with disgust,
Disdain, repulsion-

Goddamn Nazis.