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In Heaven I met Karl Marx.
Lenin was there, too, Stalin,
And Hitler along with Jesus Christ.
There was no Hell.
I asked Karl to explain the justice in this arrangement.
He said there was no way of measuring
The good in a person's life.
He admitted he had been wrong
About history and some other things
And expressed regret about all
Who'd been slaughtered in his name.
Hitler, Lenin, and Stalin did, too,
Along with Jesus Christ,
Who was sad that more than any
Had been broken and burned for him.
All said it was a consequence
Of being so sure they were right.
None of them made excuses.
Ilyich did not blame Josef,
Adolph did not plead madness,
Neither Karl nor Jesus balanced
The bad with the good they had done.
Instead they seemed at peace
Completely with what had been,
In a clarity of repose
Which seemed quite perfect for Heaven.
All poems: copyright by
Nicholas Gordon
Free scrapbook poems
permission to use
provided by the author. |
