Neutral Territory

I did not know we needed a Switzerland

That the battle lines between Axis and Allies had been

So starkly drawn across classroom walls

I, teaching in the gymnasium, had been oblivious

To the echoes of a war unfolding in the halls above

Though I will admit, I had noticed the

Hostile civilities of late

Between my colleagues

A sentence half-spoken and hastily finished

Opponents stared down, their glares

Thrown around the staff lunch room

But of the conflict, I knew nothing of the true extent

Secret pacts that had formed over door thresholds

Veiled handshakes after volatile negotiations had failed

-

Until one morning, a single sheet of paper

Pinned to the bulletin board

Like a newspaper heading announcing

The latest developments

“EMERGENCY FACULTY MEETING!”

I stared at it stunned; I did not understand

For I still believed in world peace

Drafted then, by a friend, to be backup

To help storm the beaches

And as I sat there, listening

To accusations hurled across the conference table

Missiles all their own, launched without warning

The things the principal was not doing

To support the teachers with problem parents

The things the rest of us were doing wrong

In the effort to combat

Deteriorating student performances and behaviors

And all the while, through the midst of fighting, I could

Smell the fires as Berlin burned

See the clouds swallow Hiroshima

Hear the planes flying over Pearl Harbor

Feel the tanks rumble to the front lines

Taste the dryness of my own throat

As I watched in horror

War spreading across our map

And I finally realized why

Twenty-nine people

Needed a Switzerland