Wallace: And it was beautiful –
And wild and strange
Oh Mr. Darwin
I believe we have something in common
Although I know you not from Adam
(Although we have not met)
for I have been dreaming in a fever
And it was clear at last
How these creatures came to be
How the God’s in all their wisdom of infinity
Create this variety of form
Quality of colour
Perfection in adaptation
Malarial Malthus
Shuddering Wallace dellerium tremors
Malthus as Ghost over shoulder
MALTHUS:
In life I was Thomas Malthus
a minister and writer remembered for
a widely read, popular tract
entitled “On Population”.
It was a catalyst for both of these men.
Darwin and Wallace
they used my work as a lens
to illuminate
the burning question of their lives.
W: anxious and quivering
reading is dizzying
how do these species come to be
M:are there not work houses
and what about population growth
the land can only sustain
limited plant and animal production are
trimmed and culled by what you loath
trauma, poverty, pestilence and war
W: I’ve traveled from Sarawak to Tenerife
Bali to Bangkok
and still it is a mystery to me
how these species came to be
I see variation all around
subtle changes on this side of the island
that side of the hill
ranges from that beautiful moth and butterflies,
beetles, birds, monkeys and men
how they change gradually from place to place
and variation stretches to speciation over
time and distance
but why
sick again, feverous, time and work lost
M: for example take the colonies
A doubling of population with each generation
spreading across the continent in search of land
filling up the vastness
with new Americans
like water spilled out from a can
across the plains and prairies
The poor should not be assisted
for they will breed like bunnies
lazy shiftless, unwilling and incapable
of bettering themselves
Charity is wasted on the poor
even scriptures tell us that they will
always be amongst us
They should learn contentment
with their place in the divine plan
W: it's raining, I've been sick again...
water falls upon my hut
rivulets streaming on their way to the sea
drop upon drop unceasing
I have been sick again
someday it will take me
to the sea
plants and animals everywhere
life upon life unceasing
I'm weary and hallucinatory
I can hear the walls singing
singing to me
Creation seeking only to be
without plan or reason
life is fecundity
and our children
though they will look like me
are infinite in their variety
forest voices: drop upon drop unceasing
What do you want from life?
a comfortable bed and domesticity
with someone to share in tranquility
a nice cup of tea
a good cup of tea
a clean bed
and company
Life is a knot in a rope
a whirlpool in a stream
an energy field in our dream
of life
Thomas Scott Nelson ©
last modified
October 12, 2020