Irony is a Tricky Thing

When I was in grade 9 I wrote this poem.

EVOLUTION

Where have I come from?
How did I start?
To answer these questions,
My history,
Did I chart.
An amazing discovery have I found:
Yes!
An ape was I once,
But so,
I could not be content,
And down,
Down,
I climbed from my tree.
Then
Wonder of all wonders!
A brain came to me;
And off my hair did fall,
So
My skin
I could see.
I did not feel decent in that naked state.
To answer my problem
Some clothes I did make;
A perfect solution it did be.
So I went on,
To make for me;
Houses and,
Ships and,
Cars,
And planes.
And that is where I came from!
That’s how I did start!

At the time, I considered the poem pure irony (sarcastic even). The scenario seemed so totally ridiculous. Anyone reading my poem would instantly denounce the unbelievable Darwinian theory of evolution. With a single poem, I could set mankind back on the right track. Surely if anyone thought about it more than a few seconds, they would realize reality was much too complicated to be reduced to chance happenings.

I was wrong. The Sunday after the poem was published as a runner-up in the junior poetry category in the high school yearbook, my dad was summoned in to the church council room by the elders of the church we attended.

The elders were concerned about his daughter’s strange new beliefs.