Poems and Thoughts    by Frank Maurer

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Don't be Screwed! It is just now 2 AM (0200 Hours) and my lights are still on. I fell asleep earlier and woke to ABBA songs. Memories jumped from my time in Sweden as a researcher, Back to Africa teaching, and then Turkiye before that-- And my time in Turkey (now Turkiye) Was a juxtaposition of the great city of Istanbul, And my travels doing field work near the rural villages. One of the facts that hit me, while working near those villages, Was that many still had no electricity And solar was not yet invented for the 'commoners'. While meeting with a rural planner, I was introduced to the concept that when electricity did reach a village, The birthrate of that area began to diminish. The light in a home shifted interest in the physical To conversing, reading, game playing and hobbies. The change was quite dramatic in a short period of time! Learning this fact in Turkiye, brought me back to the TVA of the US. The creation of the Tennessee Valley Authority Must have created the same phenomenon. It took a Turkish researcher to focus me in on my own country!. So, the joke and play on words was 'Screw in a light bulb and stop all the screwing around!' 9 November 2025 0230 Hours.