We are complex creatures,
the sum of parts⎯
sometimes tender, sometimes tart,
pieced together with mettle 
and a beating heart.

One day riding the waves,
another caught in an undertow.
I had a yellow Fiat once
it was just like me—
all stop/all go. 

Scholars question why?  
Freud might blame it on mother,
a weak libido or superego. 
Some hold to fluoride, wind, stars,
Mercury in retrograde, Mars.

I for one, consider the push/pull
of opposing forces—
whether by happenstance,
or plan—
to be our commonplace state
borne as best we can.