Fourteen Points (an alternate history)

I turned fourteen that year
when the League of Nations described our fate
the fate of a "peace" we did not want,
an arms reduction
that left us defenseless

I remember that time, and I can tell you when
the first black cloth bag,
covered a fighter's, my neighbor's face

"Freedom of the seas and skies," they said
"the land is where the law will lie"

But some still fear the freedom of trade,
where my people roam, ready to take
real freedom, even if it means
waking up to see, a black cloth bag

Evacuating and placing, every person
onto the land that matched their color,
Building "lines of nationality",
which were not to be crossed, unless
you favor the permanent eraser of
a black cloth bag

Votes, debates and reasonings,
all inside the lines
where we're told that nothing will go wrong
- and we believe them, because there is nothing
else left, to go wrong

I turned fourteen that year, and now
that I'm older, I wonder why,
of all the people lost,
I'm still alive