Poems and Thoughts    by Frank Maurer

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A Dance in the Kalahari on a Pan (1976). Our Kalahari safari of one month was soon to end. On the last night, a day's trip from Maun, a Botswana outpost (A hangout for the famous Van Der Post), We decided to stop and camp next to and on a salt pan or playa; Hard flat mud, forming a very walkable open area for our centerpiece. Tents up, fire started, supplies out and festivities to begin. I was cook that night. I had snuck in a bottle of brandy from the last trading post; Meat, vegetables, drinks, and sliced peach dessert all happily flavored. There were no complaints that evening, By masking any culinary faux pas I may have made. Then the battery radio appeared, sounding the music of Radio Swazi. Deftly, John's wife, Shirley, who had come along, disappeared to her vehicle, And magically returned wearing high heels; Imagine that, initiating our dancing on a hardened mud flat In the Kalahari Desert on our last wonderful night! Such a culmination of a trip full of challenges and adventure And hopefully adding some knowledge and understanding to our incredible world. Frank Maurer 15 January 2023 1700 Hours.