Why is our greatest instinct
survival in this world?
Why would anyone want to remain
in a place such as the world is?
It is a place
full of bickering, strivings, backbiting,
suspicions, arguments and war
between nations, neighbors
and members of one’s own family.
People in it suffer heartache
from the betrayal or rejection
of lovers or spouses,
and from the rebellion of children.

It’s full of nine to five jobs,
and every time a housewife sweeps a floor,
the next day it needs to be swept again.
There is worry over repair or renewal
of appliances, equipment, and buildings,
and trying to keep the gas tank full.
The people in this world cannot live
without utility bills
that are a never-ending monthly annoyance.
Everywhere people turn,
they are faced with taxes and regulations,
city, state, and federal.
There are insurance premiums to be paid,
and always, hanging above their heads
like the sword of Damocles,
is the threat of being sued
in a court of law,
for the people of this world
will sue at the drop of a hat!

In the world also are people suffering
from handicapped or mutilated bodies,
pain-racking diseases,
not to mention the many stomachaches,
toothaches, and headaches.
We have our old people,
who are trying
to stay in this world from month to month
on their pitifully small allowances
from the government,
and some suffering indignities
in our homes for the aged.
We have many people in the world
suffering from malnutrition and starvation,
pressed down into the very lowest layer
of deprivation and poverty,
whose hope of a better life
has long ago departed from their spirits.

And what about the fear
that’s in the world?
Each person, while in the world,
is afraid.
We are afraid
painful diseases will overtake us.
We are afraid
we may not have enough money
to pay our bills next month,
or that we cannot put food on our tables.
And where will we get the money
to replace the clothes we’re wearing out?

We are afraid
that we may be attacked, mugged, and robbed
of possessions
that we’ve worked so hard to get.
We are afraid
of beatings, rape, and murder
because we know
these things occur frequently in the world.
We are afraid
of lightning, tornadoes, hurricanes,
earthquakes, and volcanoes.
We are afraid
we may be killed or maimed
from the use of our many products of progress:
an automobile accident,
a nuclear energy plant disaster,
the haphazard disposal of contaminated wastes,
the misuse of pesticides
or merely a vitamin deficiency
in a processed food.

We are afraid
of war.
We are afraid
of the weapons produced for war.
We are afraid
they may annihilate the whole world.
But more than that,
we are afraid
of being one of the survivors of a war,
left in a world mutilated and poisoned.
We are afraid.

Some may want to remind me
there is also happiness in the world,
moments of joy,
contentment, and pleasures.
Indeed, we do have them,
but only in moments,
for they are fleeting and elusive things;
they are never permanent.
But the trouble, evil, and suffering
sticks to the world
like thick molasses,
no matter how much we try to wash it away.
The trouble, evil, and suffering
in the world
are the only permanency
in the world.