Thursday, July 13, 2017

Around the World in the Good Ship DOGGEREL, 127

A doggerel series about the countries of the world.


Nigeria.

It sits there in West Africa—
The Gulf of Guinea to the south.
And most of what I know of it
Has come by word of mouth.

Okay—and Wikipedia,
That scholar’s trusted friend,
Whose entries flow, oh, on and on,
As if they have no end.

Surprising, still: Yes, English the
“Official language” there—
Though there are many others that
Are spoken everywhere.

Its independence came way back
When I was still in school—
That’s 1960—be precise!—
When Elvis still was cool.

Its population? It’s the most
Of Africa’s large states—
About the crush of people, well,
There are no real debates.

Let’s not forget the animals
That roam around the place—
Some critters there are very nice;
Some others eat your face.

It’s got some elephants—and, yes,
Some jungle cats, as well.
A cheetah! Oh, no! Not again!
(I’m chicken—can you tell?)

But there are many parks for them—
All creatures great and small.
And so I’ll leave them in the Wild
And hearing its clear call.



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