Neander means New Man
yet they are twice as old
as we who call ourselves the wise ones
homo sapiens - latecomers on the scene

They left their bones in caves and shelters
from Iraq to England, Russia to Lebanon
and more than bones - stone awls, shell ornaments
flower-strewn burials
things we regard as touchstones
of our own ancestral world

We carry a handful of their genes
I like to think the mating
was mutual attraction
love not force

Forty millenia we've had the field
just to ourselves
and that's our loss

Whether we'll last as long as they did
though time will tell
all bets are off