I have been considering the conundrum:
if I had the chance
knowing what was to come
would I kill Hitler?
Sure.
If I could go back in time
even
I would risk the chaos
of changing his history
and maybe my own.

With the knowledge
of what would happen
I am simply shocked
that more people
didn’t take the chance to kill Hitler
at the time.
Why did they let it go?

But then I wonder
if there is any Hitler around today
that I should be killing.
Further, I do some calculations.
If I met a Hitler on the road
I believe I should kill him
but what if it were someone else?
What if I came across Mussolini
blowhard supreme
or trickster Huey Long?
Would they deserve death at my hands
the way Hitler so clearly does?

Am I duty bound
to slay any bastard
who threatens my ideals
regardless of how far they’ve yet gone?
Am I currently responsible
for taking the lives
of all the many assholes
I see around me?

I am considering this
and continuously pray
that my ideals
will require little of me
and I needn’t go forth
and risk prison.