Some Couplets for a Coup

This poem is dedicated to Konstantin Päts, the first and last President of the interwar Republic of Estonia. After the signature of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, Estonia (which had hoped to remain neutral) was cast into the Soviet sphere. Once a semi-plausible half-excuse appeared (similar to the Gulf of Tonkin Incident of the US Government and North Vietnam years later), the USSR issued an ultimatum to Estonia to allow Soviet military bases on their soil, a de facto annexation. Päts accepted (even though he knew Moscow would not be kind to him) since he knew his small nation had no chance against the mighty Red Army. He was deported to Ufa RSFSR (aka the "Russian" part of the USSR) and was shortly detained in both Moscow and the GULAG.  After being sent to the Tatar ASSR, back to Estonia, and then back to the RSFSR, he died an unsung hero in 1952 at a psychiatric hospital in Kalinin (now Tver, Russian Federation).

It had been so long since I had so cried
I saw a man whose hope had truly died
He stilled a fire that still burned within
To try to save his country's citizens

Laid down his arms at the peak of war
No hope in resistance anymore
Into his land the oppressors would flood
There was no need to shed innocent blood

Clear air was stifled, and sea blockaded
Foe's transition nearly consummated
A state built to help the causes of men
Returned the oligarchy yet again
Closed the fire with his self-offering
Even now the bells' warning toll yet sings

Sings of a man mocked by fate
His defeat so carved in slate

Let the tomb crosses speak for their own
Accompanying the bells' solemn tone