Mankind is a cancer,
As unlikely as it seems.
We destroy the great rainforests,
Our valleys, lakes and streams.
Pollute the very atmosphere
On which all life on Earth depends.
And contaminate the oceans
To an incredible extent.
Mankind is a tumour,
That infects the planet Earth,
Growing ever bigger
With every human birth.
And the lessons of our history
Are forgotten or ignored,
For mankind’s only goal in life
Is to create famine, strife and war.
A skill mankind has cultivated
Since we left primordial soup.
Till we’ve honed it to perfection
And it’s all we know how to do.
If there truly is a God above
Who determines all our fate.
He must view mankind’s creation
As his one true , great mistake.
Compounded by the very fact
That he gave us all free will.
Which we’ve used and abused in all we do,
With our propensity to kill.
And not just individual killings.
No! we do it on a global scale,
With viruses and toxins,
And nuclear weapons now.
To obliterate as many souls
In one go as we can.
Letting radiation fill the air
And seep into the land.
To destroy the very planet,
From its crust through to the core.
We mine and drill and excavate,
Leaving huge, unsightly sores.
In our quest for precious metals,
Minerals and gems.
Displacing endless other species,
Unconcerned for its effect on them.
Yes, mankind is a cancer.
Of that, there is no doubt.
We are the only species to evolve
That the world could live without.
By S.E.Ralph
15-9-2026
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The ambitious leaders of most countries know it, too. But in order for them to stay in power, they have to promote growth and leadership over cutting back and giving up.
We think of nature as quiet. But if you've ever watched time lapse photography of plant life fighting it out for a space on the niche they have found with other plants, the battles of insects for territory and dominance, or small sea creatures or fish being attacked and eaten by multiple birds, larger fish, or mammals like dolphins, it is moments of great violence that has created our diversity of ecosystems on planet earth. It is in our genes to be competitive and violent at times.
But we are intelligent. Your poem and many other poems, stories and books pointing out the problem hopefully will lead to sane and sound solutions before we destroy ourselves as has been recently posed by the leaders of AI.
Two books: The Territorial Imperative and The Selfish Gene relate why we have that problem. I've also heard of humans described as parasites on the Earth.
Ron