Poems and Thoughts    by Frank Maurer

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Out of Africa. I am a human, Homo sapiens, whose phylogeny is out of Africa. After I lived several decades in the Northern Hemisphere, I "returned" to Africa, Lesotho (Le su tu), to teach biology. I viewed, often, the great remaining herds of migrating creatures, The valley villages in the early morning, with a hovering cloud of smoke over the huts, And remember the breeding of my Basotho mare with a local magnificent Appaloosa stallion. We rode from Roma, Lesotho, to a Ladybrand farm in South Africa, To leave the mare for breeding on the Amm's place for a few days. Weeks later, back in Roma, a beautiful foal emerged With a Nez Perce (Ney Pair say--French) blanket of white, scattered with black spots on her rump: Perhaps the first of such a gene recombination in Lesotho! The transport of a North American horse breed (bred by the Nez Perce), Combined with the 'blood' of the African bred Basotho pony: Such a sweet, lovely creature to be created on the continent of our human origin. Frank Maurer 14 January 2023 1145 AM