Around the World in the Good Ship DOGGEREL, 10

A doggerel series about the countries of the world.

Australia.

Oh, Land Down Under! Continent!

(New Zealand is not far!)

And right nearby? Van Dieman’s Land—

You can’t get there by car.

Transported convicts came in waves—

And natives were displaced,

Just as we here—the USA—

Arrived, displaced, disgraced.

The animals are awesome! There's

The duck-billed platypus—

The wallaby, the kangaroo—

So many to discuss!

I haven’t been there—wish I had.

The landscape’s awesome, Yo.

A continent that’s full of things

I’ll never come to know.

Just like so many other things

I will not get to do—

Because the time is close, of course,

When I’m Down Under, too!