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Homo Destructus

Apparently Soup finds the Latin word for ‘Human’ offensive; about as ‘P.C. gone wrong’ as it’s possible to get. I have had to include completely superfluous hyphens in order to get the word accepted. __________________________________ Our home in the stars so often ransacked Homo-destructus had forced us to act So quick to breed Killed - not to feed Our ancient ancestors counter-attacked All rounded up for a new rebirth Transported far to a fertile Earth A gauntlet they ran - - Neanderthal man Homo-destructus; victor or serf? That was a million Earth years ago Call us inquisitive, we need to know A long stellar trek In order to check What occurs when you let primitives go Five light years travelled to view their progress Earth is an angry and war tangled mess Our crew now lay savaged Our ship also ravaged Homo-destructus sees no welcome guest That primeval race that we once left to swarm With clubs and flint axes their weaponry norm Strangely ironic They’re now atomic And Homo-destructus remains true to form

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J. Summers

Date: 11/25/2022 6:22:00 PM

Found this late but so glad I found it. An excellent poem especially from a storytelling point of view. It almost reads like a footnote from some great galactic encyclopedia. A Fav for sure. John

Valsa George

Date: 11/18/2022 3:39:00 AM

Highly ingenious and creative . Congratulations on your POTD

Terry Flood
Date: 11/18/2022 10:51:00 AM

Thank you so much, Valsa. Glad you enjoyed. Terry

Beryl Edmonds

Date: 11/16/2022 7:01:00 PM

Wonderful Limericks Terry, enjoyed the read. Congratulations on receiving the honour of poem of the day, Belle

Terry Flood
Date: 11/18/2022 10:50:00 AM

Thank you, Belle. It was a pleasant surprise, especially as limericks don’t feature strongly in POTD. Terry

Tania Kitchin

Date: 11/16/2022 2:24:00 PM

Terry, well penned, congratulations on POTD!

Terry Flood
Date: 11/16/2022 4:40:00 PM

Thank you, Tania. Chuffed with this POTD. Terry

Constance La France

Date: 11/16/2022 1:19:00 PM

Terry, a very creative use of limericks and congratulations on receiving the POEM OF THE DAY honor.

Terry Flood
Date: 11/16/2022 1:57:00 PM

Thanks, Constance. Glad you enjoyed. Terry

L Milton Hankins

Date: 11/16/2022 8:49:00 AM

When I first read and FAVED this one, Terry, I hoped it might be a P.O.T.D. and here it is! Congratulations on your well-deserved honor!

Terry Flood
Date: 11/16/2022 11:13:00 AM

I was quite surprised, having had a dig a Soup’s mods, that I got POTD. I have no idea how POTD is awarded but it wasn’t blocked, so good on them. Thanks again for the FAVE, I suspect that ‘FAVEs’ are in some way part of the POTD criteria…. But I won’t share my honour, I won’t, I won’t, I won’t!!! ;-)

I Am Anaya

Date: 11/16/2022 8:46:00 AM

Congratulations on POTD Terry Flood! Scientists have ID more than 1 million asteroids. Today in 1974 Arecibo Observatory-humans sends message to E.T. using largest radio telescope in the world, to M13 Starbuster. [msg. in binary code of Human DNA]. 25,000 yrs. to reach M13 Star Cluster it’ll take that many yrs. for E.T. to get the msg! my code caption is SKY...LOL

I Am Anaya
Date: 11/16/2022 3:17:00 PM

It exists!

Terry Flood
Date: 11/16/2022 1:21:00 PM

I’m totally gobsmacked. I genuinely made up Homo destructus. Had no idea the name had been used before. Ive said a dozen times on these boards how difficult it is to come up with a brand new name for anything. Seems I was dead right.

I Am Anaya
Date: 11/16/2022 11:27:00 AM

Laff's. Homo-Destructus= “to breed faster, pollute more, and kill everything around them.” Nov 15· A baby born in the Philippines has marked the Homo-species "Populus" 8 billion! "The human mind has a tremendous capacity to close itself off from all reasoning and insulate itself from moral argument."

Terry Flood
Date: 11/16/2022 11:03:00 AM

Those code caption often throw up interestingly apt ‘words’. Thanks for your congrats, Anaya. It amuses me that in 25,000 years some E.T. Will be sat on an alien beach, with his radio to his ear and doing his best to tune out the interference. ;-)

Malabika Ray Choudhury

Date: 11/16/2022 8:43:00 AM

Congratulations, Terry, on your POTD - really enjoyed the creative string of limericks! Brilliant!

Terry Flood
Date: 11/16/2022 10:58:00 AM

Thanks, Malabika. Glad you enjoyed my sprint through humanity’s ‘progress’. Terry

Bill Baker

Date: 11/16/2022 8:05:00 AM

Congratulations on your POTD, Terry. Quite the string of Limerick my friend. I enjoyed the read. Enjoy your special day! A poet friend in Texas, Bill

Terry Flood
Date: 11/16/2022 10:56:00 AM

Texas Bill? Do they call you ‘Wild’? Thanks for your congrats, Bill. Most appreciated. Terry

Joseph May

Date: 11/16/2022 7:12:00 AM

From primitive weapons to those that can destroy us, Congrats on POTD

Terry Flood
Date: 11/16/2022 7:30:00 AM

Thank you, Joseph. Termites can build… and they build. Man can build… and he builds… and ultimately destroys. Blimey… I think I need to find my ‘funny’ head. Terry

Terry Ireland

Date: 11/16/2022 7:10:00 AM

Nice one Terry. Glad to see somebody else does this type of subject. Doesn't always go down well. Congrats on deserved POTD] Terry

Terry Flood
Date: 11/16/2022 7:33:00 AM

Guess it’s hard to refute an irrefutable truth, Terry. Thanks for your congrats. Terry

Gershon Wolf

Date: 11/16/2022 6:59:00 AM

Alas and alack, I have no 'Souper Powers,' as has Mike Gentile, but I shall wish you congrats on POTD for this brilliant write, Terry! Excelsior! ~ Gershon

Terry Flood
Date: 11/16/2022 7:05:00 AM

Your Souper powers reside in your ‘pen’ GW. I mean, you write stuff that sounds brilliant, reads brilliant and makes me laugh out loud…. and… hang on… shouldn’t today be all about Moi? Er… thanks!

Linda Alice Fowler

Date: 11/16/2022 6:20:00 AM

LOL Terry. I laugh out loud for the PC comment. I had the same issue with a poem I wrote. Aside from that, this is a great string of limericks about what humanity can/has do/done to itself. Congratulations on the honor of your POTD! :)

Terry Flood
Date: 11/16/2022 7:38:00 AM

Thank you, Linda. I often consider writing a poem full of perfectly acceptable words that I’m sure the mods will asterisk out. Trouble is, some words seem to get through even when you’re convinced that they won’t, which would spoil the gag. Terry

Charles Messina

Date: 11/16/2022 4:41:00 AM

We will be living on the moon or maybe even Mars before we know it. Great poem incorporated into a brilliant limerick. Way to go, Terry. Congratulations on POTD. Charlie

Terry Flood
Date: 11/16/2022 7:42:00 AM

Thanks, Charlie. Had a brief go at this tale in ‘Vogon’ style. Couldn’t get my head around it so a little remodelling produced this. Glad I did that and glad you enjoyed. Terry

John Lawless

Date: 11/16/2022 4:27:00 AM

i think the problem grew when "homo"got "erectus". Nice work with the limerick and evading the "underfunded" PC police.

Terry Flood
Date: 11/16/2022 5:58:00 AM

Aha… so you blame it all on their weapons then. Thanks, John. Terry

Mike Gentile

Date: 11/16/2022 4:24:00 AM

Science fiction to reality Terry! Awesome writing making for a great read!! So happy for your POTD!! Enjoy your fay!

Terry Flood
Date: 11/16/2022 4:45:00 AM

Thanks, Mike. You know I think you may have Souper powers. Some time ago I congratulated you on POTD and the next day I got POTD. Only yesterday I congratulated you once more on POTD and I thought, ‘last time I congratulated Mike on POTD, I got POTD the next day.’ And so it came to pass. Weird or what? Terry

Suzanne Delaney

Date: 11/16/2022 3:55:00 AM

Congratulations. Glad you got your poem through the tricky algorithms, Terry: Worth the effort for POTD. Soon homo-destructus will have help from AI. Heaven help us then. SuZ

Terry Flood
Date: 11/16/2022 6:57:00 AM

Thank-you, SuZ. We really will be in trouble then. Glad you enjoyed. Terry

Jeff Kyser

Date: 11/16/2022 3:19:00 AM

Enjoyed this, and seeing the proper honor a good limerick deserves! :-)

Terry Flood
Date: 11/16/2022 6:55:00 AM

Thanks, Jeff. Just goes to show that Soup holds no grudge. Chuffed. Terry

Elizabeth Mccann

Date: 11/16/2022 3:11:00 AM

Yes, Terry! I hear it said, "That's just how people are!" not realizing, of course, that a destructive trait can still lead to extinction. Elizabeth

Terry Flood
Date: 11/16/2022 4:49:00 AM

It’s a strange anomaly that the human race could destroy planet Earth, yet in the face of another massive asteroid, only the human race could potentially save the planet. Terry

Anne-Lise Andresen

Date: 11/16/2022 2:31:00 AM

- A great poem spiced with humour ... congratulations on your p.o.t.d., Terry :) -

Terry Flood
Date: 11/16/2022 2:47:00 AM

Thank you, Anne-Lise. Glad you enjoyed. Terry

Unseeking Seeker

Date: 11/16/2022 1:59:00 AM

Series of exquisite limericks ~ congrats on POTD, Terry. Enjoyed!

Terry Flood
Date: 11/16/2022 2:51:00 AM

Thank you, ‘Unseeking’. Much appreciated. Terry

Jenna Logan

Date: 11/16/2022 1:50:00 AM

Destruction of each other and the planet seems to be a specialty of the race. Congratulations on potd, Terry.

Terry Flood
Date: 11/16/2022 2:46:00 AM

Thank you, Jenna. I must criticise Soup more often… Tee hee. I guess the most worrying thing about my poem and your comment is that only our race can fix it. Do yourself a favour… don’t hold your breath! Terry

David Kavanagh

Date: 11/16/2022 1:43:00 AM

Brilliant Terry, we didn’t start the fire it was always burning since the world’s been turning, population 8 billion since yesterday, the Homo-destructus monster continues, congratulations on a more than worthy POTD, cheers David

I Am Anaya
Date: 11/16/2022 9:00:00 AM

Genius lyrics by Billy Joel

Terry Flood
Date: 11/16/2022 2:31:00 AM

Thanks for nothing, David. I’m gonna be singing, humming or whistling that for a week now. Seriously, thanks for your congrats. Terry

Deb M

Date: 11/16/2022 12:37:00 AM

Congratulations Mr Flood….great seeing your name up there!! Debx

Terry Flood
Date: 11/16/2022 2:27:00 AM

Thank you, Deb. Funny how educational writing can be. I knew about Homo sapiens, Neanderthalensis and erectus(giggle) but it turns out that, depending on which expert you choose to believe, there’s been 15 human species, of which, only we remain. Consider yourself educated ;-) Terry

Tom Cunningham

Date: 11/16/2022 12:34:00 AM

Back with big congratulations Terry on the honour of POTD. Well done. Tom

Terry Flood
Date: 11/16/2022 2:18:00 AM

Thanks, Tom. Big Kudos to Soup for awarding POTD to a poem that starts with a criticism. Terry