ONE OF MANKIND

Just one of mankind
I am a man,
But not the one
Whose name is used
When things are done.
I did not pollute the world,
The man-made roads
Were not laid by my hand.
I have not conquered science
Or been to the moon.
I have fought no wars
Nor killed in the name of my breed.

Should I, as a man, be proud
Of the achievements of mankind?
Should I stand in line and applaud?

I did not split the atom on Hiroshima,
I did not gas the Jews at Auschwitz,
I did not wash responsibility from my hands,
Like Pilot,
I am not that man!
I have not abused a child,
Raped a girl
Or mugged an old lady,
I am not that man!
I did not call you baldy, fatty, faggot or blacky,
I am not that man!
I am not the racist,
I am not the rapist,
I am not the pervert or the pest!
These things are not done in my name!
But I am a man,
A man who is sometimes proud
But mostly ashamed of his kind
And all the things
That are not done in my name.
I am a man
But I am not mankind!

© Tony Stringfellow 2006

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