Love is and has been the most ubiquitous and intense subject of individual and social concern throughout human history. Moreover, love has been a primary topic for philosophers and religionists through the ages. Even as materialistic science came to dominate society in modern times, love became a major subject for scientific investigation through psychology, sociology, anthropology, archeology, biology, biochemistry, and most recently, neuroscience.
Love has been the most compelling theme in music, literature, and the visual arts for thousands of years (e.g. the voluptuous female figurines of 35,000 years ago, ancient Egyptian tomb drawings, erotic carvings on Cambodian and Indian Hindu temples, the Bible's Song of Solomon, erotic poetry of ancient Greece, ancient Roman pornographic images, female nudes in European art since Botticelli's Birth of Venus in 1485, and, in modern times, love and sex are a primary focus of popular music, movies, television, literature, and social media). Of course, all the major religions promote the love of God and humanity (however hypocritically) as the basis of belief and worship.
As a thoughtful young adult, Michael Baldwin wondered why the importance of love is so universally invoked, and yet how seldom true love is realized. Humanity, while advocating love, engages more in hate, violence, lust for material gain, and the exploitation of power over people and nature. Furthermore, loveless, casual sex and addiction to pornography are now major pathological conditions in modern society.
Seeking to resolve for himself the contradictions and ambiguities of love, he researched love's various manifestations (romantic, familial, philia, spiritual, etc.); what we love (other humans, gods, pets, nature, beauty, art, country, etc.); why we love (pheromone excitation, genetic proclivities, brain hormones, emotional tendencies, psychological exigencies, etc.); and, of course, what love is in its essence (still a great mystery until you read my essay at the end of this book).
Thus, you will find the poems in this volume have been loosely categorized into nine sections, which explore and hopefully elucidate love from various perspectives. By bringing these several (but by no means exhaustive) facets of love together in one book, Baldwin hopes to stimulate the reader to thinking more deeply about the enigmatic nature of love. Furthermore, in the concluding essay, he describes how he discovered the answer to love's enigma and explain why love is truly the Only Important Thing.
