The beginning of civilization

In the dark way back,
Time before time,
Before reading, writing and arithmetic,
When we crept and slithered,
Skittering across the jungle floor
Dropped from above and set in constant motion,
Hiding in the shadows of the rough terrain
Just eluding the reach of predators
And competing for the minutia, a bit of something edible
That your raptor's eye might grasp
On the edge of its own fear.

Even so, some odd moment come at last
To grasp and still the pounding of your merciless heart
When one human eye caught the reflection of another
So alike you imagined a pool of water
And an eye so similar
That the heart caught itself in mid-beat
And the everyday struggles ground to a halt
And you knew your brother-creature.

At that moment, all the angels in God's great Heaven
Paused in their endless tasks,
Winging around the expanse of universe,
And marveled at the slightest of sparks
Of God's own spirit,
And where it might be found.