What Might Have Been

 What Might Have Been


What a hoot! New evidence shows Neanderthals

were smarter than homo sapiens.

The joke’s on us now, after we have mercilessly

painted these predecessors as bumblingly stupid,

ugly, so inferior that they died off.

And we, the victors, carried our species

into the 21st century, rulers of the planet.

I wonder. If the Neanderthal had survived

that ice age, would we be in such trouble today?

A fluke of location meant they were

caught inescapably by the perils of climate.

So we with our inferior brains were left

to hold down the fort. Or not.

They say we have remnants of Neanderthal

genes in our DNA. That might help.

And surely at this point

we need all the help we can get.


Comments

  1. joann hodshonSeptember 7, 2022 at 10:15 AM

    great twist in the last 2 lines

    ReplyDelete
  2. JoyceSeptember 7, 2022 at 12:58 PM

    If we keep our heads, hearts, and spirits in balance it will be HUGE........

    ReplyDelete

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