Years from now, in a very special place Many souls were gathered around a fire I was there too, a fly on the wall… The first to speak was a brave little man His valor seemed to belie his stature I should never have sent them to Russia, he said My ambition put my fellow soldiers in harm’s way I was wrong Next up was a bespectacled gent He looked like a Midwestern haberdasher There were many ways to end the Great War, he said I chose the very worst and thousands died in Japan I was wrong A mustachioed Russian was awaiting his turn He looked remorseful, as if he had killed someone I should never have incarcerated them in the Gulags, he said These great minds would have made my country even greater I was wrong Everyone fell silent as the fearsome Austrian spoke He looked like sanity had never befriended him I should not have believed that Aryans were special, he said I should not have wreaked havoc on those decent Jews I was wrong An old, toothless Indian in a loincloth spoke next He looked like he had fasted for days I should never have appeased that ambitious man, he said I should never have allowed religion to divide my land I was wrong A man who looked like a Chinese farmer was next to speak He bowed his head, as if ashamed The cultural revolution should never have happened, he said Millions of my countrymen would still be alive today I was wrong Then a tall, gruff Texan stood up and spoke His craggy face suggested he really cared for his people I should never have lied about that unwinnable war, he said Our men should have come home alive, welcomed like heroes I was wrong A timorous, secretive Californian spoke in a whisper He looked, well, pretty much like a crook I was a crook, he said, I am a crook, I will forever be a crook I should never have pretended to be anything else I was wrong A short, slight Cambodian now began to mutter He looked like he was consumed by an existential fear Genocide, by any name, is an unforgivable crime, he said I buried my brothers and sisters in the Killing Fields I was wrong An old, bearded mullah got up to speak next He adjusted his turban and spoke in his soft, sinister voice The Religious Revolution went horribly wrong, he said I should never have ignored the will of my people in Islam’s name I was wrong Now it was the turn of yet another Texan This one wasn’t very smart and he looked like he knew it Even if he had the WMD, that was no excuse for the war, he said Four hundred thousand Iraqis did not deserve to die I was wrong The last one up was a big orange man, very fat but strangely also fit He wore, it seemed, a wig (badly made) of golden strands It was a bad idea to build that wall, he said It was a bad idea too to enlist the support of despots I was wrong Ah… a cold sigh escaped me As the special place froze over