Uncertainty
What a famed physicist might have written
How full of wonder and excitement
was that evening turning to night
as I restlessly checked my work
and saw any doubts I had vanishing;
when nature opened its strangely beautiful interior
and generously spread it out before me,
to show what no one had ever seen before.
With sleep impossible
I went out to the tip of the isle,
climbing a rock jutting into the sea
to see another day dawning.
It felt so much like renowned Einstein had said
of another great discovery in the past:
“To few men in the world
has such an experience been granted”
That was then, in my younger days.
While living under a cruel leader
can love of country ever go too far?
How much could or should one resist?
Many had left but I chose to stay;
I thought this would end soon … but when?
I knew the secret of a powerful new weapon;
immense obstacles stood in its way.
Should I hold back …
or go hard forward?
Did I do the right thing?
In the end, we did not build any such bombs,
but some who did and then used them,
causing vast destruction and death,
would no longer shake my hand.
– Peter Schmidt (March 2024)
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