Poems and Thoughts    by Frank Maurer

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Australian Singer, Genesis Owusu. Genesis Owusu has won every musical award in Australia And is now planning to start performing in the US. His family emigrated from Ghana, Africa, when he was a child. He had to learn as a black immigrant just how to fit in. His second album, following his successful debut, is 'Struggle', featuring 'Roaching'. In this new musical presentation he sings about the cockroach-- Its ability to survive against 'great odds', And in passing, poses the question does god value such a creature. He then compares the stubborn and powerful cockroach to the human struggle-- 'Like the cockroach we shall overcome all adversity' {my paraphrasing}. As a biologist, I extrapolated and generally wondered about the 'survival of things'. Cockroaches have an incredible ability to reproduce and adapt to available space and food. Humans are incredibly able to survive by their reproductive 'ability' (Partly through continuous female receptivity) and with always newly developed technology-- Clothing, agriculture, the domestication of the horse, the wheel, control of fire-- Cooking and producing 'soft food' has even caused the evolution of reduced molars, Loss of a second stomach (the appendix), loss of the sagittal ridge (Bone on the skull to accommodate attached extra masticating muscle), Reduction of canine teeth--all with the help and backup of an opposable thumb! Remembering that a 'good' parasite does not kill its host, Again, one extrapolates in one's mind, on the human population as the 'dependant parasite', And the planet as the 'host' ; Will humans adapt to less usurpation of the 'host', By once again, fostering technology and behavioral adaptation, Thus preventing us from 'killing our host'? Frank Maurer 21 August 2023 1400 Hours.