Political Verse: The Judgment at Nuremberg

by Dee Newman

The judgment at Nuremberg was that War
Is evil. And, self-defense, its lone
Justification. Those persons, therefore,
Who initiate a war on their own
Must bear the sole responsibility
For all the children burned, crippled, and killed,
For all the death and pain and tragedy,
For all the waste and innocent blood spilled.
Though, the engraved subject and its exergue
Has long faded from our consciousness,
The victor's revenge of Nuremberg
May soon be revisited upon us.
I wonder, are we prepared to live by
The rules of criminal conduct that we
Once enforced on others and to apply
Those laws to our acting authority?
         The Geneva Conventions we signed ain't
         Out-of-date, old-fashion, nor are they ''quaint.''