Through what we were pursuing

We created storm and flood,

But that which took most doing

Was creating flesh and blood.

The simplest living creature

Is more complex by far

Than any other feature

Of this or any star.

Raw energy exploding

Takes a simple act of will,

But living takes encoding

With a high degree of skill.

To clothe in flesh the living

We brought about our death.

It took a lot of giving

To give one creature breath.

But one by one we gave it,

And made ourselves a game.

We had to die to save it;

Without death, things stay the same.

Persistence is stagnation;

We needed to destroy

Some parts of our creation

to bring a greater joy.

We gave ourselves to life this way

And living learned to die.

It seemed a simple price to pay

To let an eagle fly.

Now every eagle soaring

Was a song to our desire.

The striped tiger roaring

Brought to life our inner fire.

Thus we became the living,

And by giving living birth

We found a way of giving

Something new, of greater worth:

A diversity of creatures,

Cricket, cobra, lion, lamb,

All evolving newer features,

Endless ways to say "I am".

By dying we could make it new

And keep the game alive.

We killed whatever wasn't true

And let the rest survive.

But having each a different form

New viewpoints soon arose

About which one would be the norm,

And who among us chose.

Some felt one form was suited best

To forwarding the plan;

They put their viewpoint to the test,

And took the form of man.

Since death a final answer gave,

Those who could not agree

Which forms should die and which to save

Must either fight or flee.

Survival then became the test,

The essence of our game.

Soon we'd forgotten all the rest,

Including why we came.