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Poems and Thoughts by Frank Maurer

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Sex

Bonobos and Humans opus 36

Two primates which share the blue ribbon,
By utilizing sex to bond, more than any other of that group.
The difference between the two species
Is that humans use sex to bond, juxtaposed with occasional violence,
While Bonobos use intercourse to bond and just simply reduce aggression.

Oh, the vagrancies of the outcome of random evolution.

Who Really Makes the Choice? opus 48

So, you think the 'Man makes the choice'.
Really?
The human female evaluates the best she can
To judge that male who might 'offer the best offspring' (as well as love).
But the females of other species do the same.
Birds of Paradise males are judged by their counterparts,
Evaluating the practiced year-long results of vocalization and/or dance.
The hen Sage-grouse sees who is best on the lek
And submits to the male acceptance to couple.
Remember, that mammals are basically female (XX)
And that birds are basically male (ZZ),
But no matter the genomic composition, the female is the one
Who, often, seems to decide the ultimate coupling for the future.

Banning Shakespeare? opus 166

Besides Banobos, Humans are the most sexually oriented primate on the planet.
Is it any wonder that our plays, films, novels, or poetry reflect this?
We have a presidential candidate, also governor of Florida,
Who, as governor, is now actually banning the high school study
Of the complete works of William Shakespeare!
A student will encounter a watered-down presentation of a play,
Cleansed of anything that is 'racy or sexual'.
(A reading of the complete works must be accomplished by the student hermself*.)
This is to 'protect students, from anything untoward'.
These are students, who, if following high school 21st century behavior,
Are kissing, flirting, tempting, petting, masturbating, pleasing each other orally,
Or, heaven forbid, actually indulging in copulation!
This is not to mention all the 'dirty' novels and ubiquitous pornography.

Who is protecting whom from what?
By watering down or banning something from a young human,
It guarantees that, without wise instruction, complete works will be incompetently read!

* Non-sexist pronoun; Prof. Lenora Timm, 1966.

The Olfactory Mammal opus 256

Crickets to purchase in the pet store.
Wandered by the fish--and then the Betta display.
She had her back to me--she was tall.
I said, "You can train those, you know."
She turned; morphologically lovely.
We chatted about her school, her past,
Her time in our town; I added just a bit.

Not sure if I said something or she,
But there was a blush to her face.
Her prominent nose reminding me
Of my first Armenian High School love.
Then my nostrils were filled with her
Sweet female scent.
A shot went through me and I, the biologist,
Knew I was truly an olfactory mammal;
As she walked away,
Leaving her lingering pheromone.
Indeed, my whole phylogeny
Raced throughout my ontogeny.

Some General 'Rules' to Ponder. (Written With B. Franklin in Mind.) opus 307

A large monoculture is a dangerous thing.

Tolerance ultimately leads to peace.

Trial and error in biological systems
leads to continual, ultimate successes.

Following only one philosophy
can lead to the loss of unknown experience.

One must always be aware
of the limitations of the living system.

Happiness is not contentment
and joy cannot be continually experienced.

Restricted standards in biology
can often destroy the required variation for survival.

With only one, DNA based system of earthly life,
how could there ever be one ultimately 'special' life?

Humanism is the understanding and reverence for all life,
without an interfering supreme being.

By destroying your environment,
you are destroying yourself.

Without sex, life would be just a bunch of independent clones.

Without religion, early rulers could not
have well-controlled large groups of 'subjects'.
Perhaps such is still the same today?

A moderated, ritualized competition 'for the girl',
Might lead to a safer conclusion, as with many other life forms,
just as a good parasite should never kill its host.

No matter under what circumstances--
testerone, belief, and a resulting conflict
always lead to human tragedy.

Throughout the universe,
water may be the ultimate limiting factor.

Liquid, steam, and ice are the three forms of water.
How fortunate for many earthly forms of life
that the solid state is less dense than the liquid!

For every action, there is a reaction;
that includes chemistry, physics, and human emotion!

Without language, human emotion
would be expressed without a rainbow.

If heat did not rise, our first modes of flight
would have been impossible.

Without evolution, most niches for life
would have been unutilized.

Two Very Sexy Geese opus 351

I have viewed this afternoon on my little farm pond,
A pair of Canada Geese swimming quietly together.
As I watched (1500 Hours), the two began
Dipping heads and imbibing in unison.
The mirrored movements became ever more rapid,
When suddenly the male gently slid over the back of the female,
Holding her head under water as he mated.
Just as quickly, he slid off but was still hooked
With his intromittent organ.
They swam awkwardly in parallel until he became unattached.
Then as if they were two human lovers, lighting up,
They, in unison, began (1515 Hours) fierce self preening manipulations.
Bills dug into plumage, over and over again,
Followed together by more head dipping,
Wing flapping, and bathing--full body.
At this moment (1525 Hours) a lone male Mallard swam from shore
Then suddenly plunged under water, surfacing twenty feet out,
Next to the pair
(Mallards are dabblers, not usually divers--most interesting behaviour.)
It started to preen and dip, mimicking the 'dance' nearby.
Astoundingly this went on for several minutes,
Then just as rapidly, the duck turned and swam to shore,
Continuing, in its seeming frenzy, to preen on ground.
The goose pair continued to mimic each other with diminishing movements.
The Mallard swam back out to mingle with the two,
Seeming to empathetically be 'joyful' in what had just occurred.
As things calmed down, I was again overwhelmed
That I had witnessed another creature, so very accurately,
Going through the same passions and behaviour
As if I had just viewed a sex film or had remembered
My own sexual behaviour with a mate of my own species!
Then, as if the phone had rung, drawing us back into the 'real' world,
The female goose began to softly cackle several times
Announcing that it was over and business awaits.
The two arose, splashingly, off the water, rose up and headed west
To the field next door, cackling exuberantly as they landed in the 'green graze',
Now ready, with contrasting behaviour, to pluck many blades of grass!

(It is noteworthy that the male Mallard through this whole episode
was totally alone--no female in sight.
An hour later his female returned--from foraging?--
and immediately the male became active around her--
swimming, preening and devoting attention to her!)

A Love Dream opus 509

I woke from a soft dream.
I was with a soft one.
The best I had ever experienced.
I was satisfied that, with our blending,
I had given her the best she had ever felt.
All couples should have such mutuality!

Only Two Sexes! opus 535

Our new (and repeat) president has declared there are only two sexes.
Scientific studies and enquiries show there are many more orientations.
Of course, there is now political reaction
Against these restricted, officially declared dual sexual orientations.
Perhaps history will replicate itself as, for instance,
Occurred in Black Sports History.
Blacks were ostracized from baseball,
So they created the infamous Black Leagues,
After which Whites, upon seeing the potential value of Black players,
And posing Jackie Robinson as the 'change agent',
Blacks are now dominant in the baseball legacy.
Prejudice and hate sometimes melt into a new positive reality.

Does Banning Things Ever Succeed? opus 591

Just recently, the Taliban of Afghanistan
Have begun to ban the ancient game of Chess.
This revered 'sport' has been pegged as a form of betting.

As authoritative power creeps into our democracy,
Are we witnessing the banning of the ancient 'game' of sex,
Similar, of that occurring in Afghanistan?
Namely, in spite of decades of research,
We now hear the proclamation that there are only two sexes!
All others of the 57 sexual orientations just do not exist--
A true limitation of that variation of this ancient 'game'.

Don't be Screwed! opus 690

It is just now 2 AM (0200 Hours) and my lights are still on.
I fell asleep earlier and woke to ABBA songs.
Memories jumped from my time in Sweden as a researcher,
Back to Africa teaching, and then Turkiye before that--
And my time in Turkey (now Turkiye) 
Was a juxtaposition of the great city of Istanbul,
And my travels doing field work near the rural villages.
One of the facts that hit me, while working near those villages,
Was that many still had no electricity
And solar was not yet invented for the 'commoners'.
While meeting with a rural planner,
I was introduced to the concept that when electricity did reach a village,
The birthrate of that area began to diminish.
The light in a home shifted interest in the physical
To conversing, reading, game playing and hobbies. 
The change was quite dramatic in a short period of time!
Learning this fact in Turkiye, brought me back to the TVA of the US.
The creation of the Tennessee Valley Authority
Must have created the same phenomenon.
It took a Turkish researcher to focus me in on my own country!.
So, the joke and play on words was
'Screw in a light bulb and stop all the screwing around!'