The Anthill and the Magnifying Glass

If you could meet a historical figure, who would it be and why?

By Andrew R. Duckworth

If I could bring him back
I would meet with Thomas Payne
Who saw the seeds of tyranny
And sought to smash them
Under his foot,
Knowing the weight
Of a soldier’s boot
When a king who sat
On an overseas throne
Delighted in the sound
Of marching thuds
In another land.
And I would show
Him the world as it is,
The marching boots,
The tools of control,
The methods of madness,
The rationale of mad men
Sitting in high towers
Over the ants who work,
A heavier boot on its way,
The child with a magnifying glass
Who seeks to bring hell upon
The anthill when the ants
Don’t do as directed.
We would speak… we would speak
Knowing words can lead to trouble,
But knowing that words give power
In the world where words
Travel fast.