DARWIN'S GHOST

.
Sadly I wander about the Earth,
Drifting over the buried dead,
The myriads of innocents who suffered and bled,
Their beautiful bodies smashed to pieces
Because of what I said.

I taught that the law of life
Decrees incessant bloody strife,
That everybody is a rival,
And only winning ensures survival.

O God, what have I done?
For Hitler, Stalin and Mao
And all the other blood-drenched tyrants,
Who followed me or my disciple Marx,
Have enmeshed whole nations in brutality,
And filled mankind with dread.

O God, I am so sorry!
I was driven by ambition:
I wanted fame,
To perpetuate my name.

I knew that what I wrote was wrong,
And so I sank into the dark depression
That made me ill
And blighted all my later years,

Brooding on the huge lie I had spread
Throughout the world,
Knowing the havoc it would cause,
Knowing it would drive men mad,
And even You would be denied.

Please God, forgive me!
Let me rest.


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