Beer Hall Putsch   We thought they were nothing — imbeciles, clowns playing at power like somebody’s kid brother, a pest at best ignored. They sounded   like dogs barking at fleas — no concern of ours, no worry. We thought we could drown them with our laughter. We thought we could turn   them toward God, stifle their voices, get rid of them once and for all. We thought they’d learn their lesson. We were right, of course — they did.     © Michael Fleming Brattleboro, Vermont February 2022