Troubled History

Somehow this adjective
And noun paired as a phrase
In the English language,

Deployed by journalists
And essayists if not
Often historians

To convey something re
Everything from gossip
About celebrities

To problems rolling out
Military hardware,
New technologies, or

Government programs—whole
Neighborhoods and countries
And countries with countries

Know troubled histories.
It does seem redundant.
It has no counterpart,

No antonymic
Phrase for calm history,
Nor an alternative

Adjective for troubled—
Why not tempestuous,
Rollicking, or perturbed?

Troubled or violent,
All the choices you get
Beyond prehistory.