Poems and Thoughts    by Frank Maurer

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Dear Agave Plant. Oh, dear agave plant, who yields to us your wondrous juices, Giving us joy, when imbibing your processed 'nectar', Have we, through the negligence of our planet, Forfeited your yield because of our criminal warming, Careless uncontrolled habitat loss, and overharvesting? By removing your flowering stalk early, So as to energize the base-stalk for added sugars and production, And, as well, affecting the Long-nosed bat, having no flowers to feed upon, And no flowers to pollinate for your own multiplication, Your numbers are threatened as well as those of the symbiotic nectarivore. What on earth are we truly able to do? Oh, of course--management and restoration! (Perhaps also cutting back on our tequila consumption?) Hmm, the latter is sort of a joke, I guess. Frank Maurer 9 July 2023 1215 Hours.