L i f e :

a maelstrom.  A prison, deep underground.    Iron bars,
rock walls, rock floor.  Only light from rancid oil...

our eyes burn and our noses run
from smoke and fear

of choking

of giving up

and yet...and yet... we choose you.

One thing goes right, ten go wrong.
One loves, one's lover leaves
or is taken.

Death stalks.
Lightning electrocutes.
Quakes and tsunamis and floods.
Deprivation, accident, disease.
The decadent, the evil.
The black holes.
The chaos.

So why?

To hold a hand.
To hug, and be hugged.
To watch the miracle of birth.
To see a baby discover it's hands.

For the joy of learning.
For the beauty of sunrise and sunset.
For animals and trees.  For flowers.
For mountains,  rivers, and streams.
For oceans and caves and deserts.

Every star, every bird, every fish.
                    

To hold a hand.