Homo Neanderthalensis Poem by Tor Magnor Solvang

A time long, long ago,
When people walked the earth.
Two kinds, they met and grew,
A mingling, giving birth.

Our ancient ones, so new,
Found others, strong and old.
Their paths, they crossed, it's true,
A story to be told.

Around forty-five thousand years,
The time we now can see.
From deepest roots, it appears,
A blend for you and me.

The old DNA, they found,
In Europe, cold and deep.
Showed Neanderthal unbound,
Secrets they did keep.

As humans spread afar,
Across the lands they strode.
Met those beneath a star,
On paths where they had trod.

A short time they were one,
But gifts they left behind.
In many, it's begun,
A trace for us to find.

From Africa's warm sun,
The world began to grow.
And genes of Neanderthal, run,
In many ways now, you know.

For health and sleep's soft hold,
And how our bodies work.
A tale from ages old,
Still with us, this great perk.