Poems and Thoughts    by Frank Maurer

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Overcoming the Impossible. I had a terrible fish allergy when I was young. I rolled on the floor, gasping for breath, and no one understood why. Ahh, finally it was figured out that I had a severe fish allergy. I went weekly to Dr. Clifford to have weekly injections And then bits of fish, from those I had caught in our local Crystal Lake. It didn't work, so months of immunization went down the tubes. At camp I washed dishes to earn a scholarship; Fridays were lethal when I wiped the sweat off my head, And the fish oil in the sink's sudzy water would get into my mouth. I persevered, hating this allergy, trying tastes of fish defiantly. Finally at 50 years, my biology changed and I could taste fish carefully. One day I went into a fish market and asked how this and that tasted. The fishmonger was perplexed, until I explained about my past allergy. At last I was free. I had persevered and had beat my biology. Last night I cooked up a lovely piece of flavored Cod. In past times, that would have been like Socrates imbibing the hemlock. My biology did help, but my insistence got me over the goal. Perhaps that is why the 'impossible' projects I have tackled, Many times were successful, because I had learned not to give up. Frank Maurer 13 February 2025 2355 Hours.