Two by Two
Walking out of the garden
by H. Palmer Hall
Heat along with a forgetting of the past
Entropy paved the way, no thought of a return
Streams of urea, two reacting with two,
Held them back, constructing organic
Had taken them up the evolutionary trail.
First cause? The Bunsen burner oh boiling the ooze.
They could not have halted soon in any case,
Path. With fire and dwindling cohesion, they
Turned, looked at each other. "This is it,"
They sighed, "no turning back." Constant
They dribbled out their days and ways
In new forms, failed forms, spawning
Different arrangements, overcoming whatever
Substances never known before: two
Unknown substances, the same in every way:
Atom to atom, life to life. They felt afraid.
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