Orchid © Katherine Ohlson

Illicit Sex + Violent Death = Perfection

There is a vicious struggle going on,
just outside civilization's door.
A struggle of 3 billion years,
that most of us ignore.

It started in the temperate places,
shaded from the molten rock,
and from the boiling seas,
in tepid acid schlock.

A complex organic compound,
sparked by lightning's charge.
Into a single cell amoebae,
with a lust for life large.

Only to die in a moment,
fragility held no grace.
Suddenly a viable cell,
and then nothing in its place.

A trillion or more times,
this happened, until one cell split.
The splitting continued,
and the reproductive light was lit.

With reproduction came life.
Quickly filling its little niche.
Starving on its own success,
success in life is a bitch.

But on and on the struggle,
both grew and enriched.
Many life forms followed,
and most of them were pitched.

Into the sea of extinction,
fertilizer for those to come.
Better life replacing poorer,
the battle had begun.

All were parasites of the planet,
eating its very stone.
Some plants and some animal,
depending on their genome.

All were food for each other,
both in life and death.
For death was also inevitable,
just another part of life.

Danger lurked in every instant,
and only the strong survived.
To live to reproduce,
was how new life arrived.

Some new life was lovely,
some new life despised.
But all new life was tested,
by its ability to survive.

A giant perfection engine,
spinning silently in space.
Nature's beauty is obvious,
who are we to erase?

The perfection of the ages,
we should all embrace.
Who are we for destroying,
in the name of the human race?

Copyright 2009 © Ronald W. Hull

7/18/09