Robert Davidson

I grew spiritually fat living off the souls of men.         If I saw a soul that was strong         I wounded its pride and devoured its strength.         The shelters of friendship knew my cunning         For where I could steal a friend I did so.         And wherever I could enlarge my power         By undermining ambition, I did so,         Thus to make smooth my own.         And to triumph over other souls,         Just to assert and prove my superior strength,         Was with me a delight,         The keen exhilaration of soul gymnastics.         Devouring souls, I should have lived forever.         But their undigested remains bred in me a deadly nephritis,         With fear, restlessness, sinking spirits,         Hatred, suspicion, vision disturbed.         I collapsed at last with a shriek.         Remember the acorn;         It does not devour other acorns.