The Question Poem by Barry Middleton

the question
since the dawn of time
concerns the essence of our fate
the question for today
is the battle of love and hate
and which will now prevail

for man is torn
by contradictory natures
we never could survive
without cooperation
and affiliation
for this is family

but competition lives within us
the bitter taste
of a spring apple
the desire to be a god
and to live forever
and to have it all

and so we build our treasure
we hoard and hide our loot
and we will kill for gold
and kill for power
we are never satisfied
for greed requires protection

gods and boundaries
and borders divide us
still hand in hand
love comes to walk beside us
this is the lesson for today
reach out and love can stay

but hate will never die
we cannot kill the evil half
and still keep love alive
and all that we can do
lies deep within the soul
it's up to me and you