Poems and Thoughts    by Frank Maurer

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The Struggling Polar Bear. Polar Bears wander in a warming autumn. No food intake all summer. Seals in iceless water taunt the white giants. Males fight with restless anger alone-- No females present to raise their testosterone-- Only tension, no ice from which to hunt, And a longer hiatus with no food. As the earth increasingly warms each year, The bears must seek out cliff nests for eggs. The Snowshoe Hare is still in a white mode, Maintaining its lingering white phase, While traversing on a brown substrate. Easy to see but far too quick for the bear. Balancing on cliff edges, seabird eggs Are a small nutritional substitute. Our human activities, releasing ever more CO2, Have a great bear Balancing on cliffs to ferret out a diminutive bird's egg. Frank Maurer 27 September 2023 2225 Hours