PREDETERMINATION

How tall will you be?

Will you be smart or dumb?

Will you be blond and gorgeous,

Or brunette and just ho-hum?

Will you compose great music,

Or will poetry be your thing?

Will you be a dancer,

Or paint, or sculpt or sing?

Will you bear many allergies?

Will you be straight or gay?

Will you be lion hearted,

Or flee danger, come what may?

These are a few examples

Of qualities we host

Determined by our genes:

Our birthright, weep or boast!

Then come circumstances:

Where on the planet born?

Was it in the desert heat,

Or where glaciers form?

Did your parents love or hate you?

Were they nurturing or cross?

Did you have to go to war?

Did you suffer penury and loss?

All this makes me wonder

If we are really free

To make the least decision

About what we are to be.

Was everything predetermined?

Am I just conditioned to respond,

A mammal that cerebrates,

Here today, tomorrow gone?