Sonnet 1
Anthropologist Helen Fisher *
describes romance
as a combination of attraction,
romantic love, and attachment.
Attraction has evolved as a means of
providing a wide range of possible mates,
romantic love, of focusing on a single individual,
and attachment for long-term bonding and child rearing.
Each of these traits is associated with a neural transmitter
or specific brain chemistry.
Taken together,
these essential characteristics form the basis for mutual desire,
pair bonding, reproductive success,
and parental investment.
* Helen Fisher, Why We Love (2005)
The Chicken and the Egg 