Tuesday, May 23, 2017

Around the World in the Good Ship DOGGEREL, 76

A doggerel series about the countries of the world.

India.

Columbus thought he’d found the place.
But hadn't. So he saved some face
By calling locals “Indians”—
As if, somehow, they were the ones

Who’d drifted there so magically
To give their gold to Spain, you see?
But India—that fabled land—
Lay far away, we understand.

The British tried their form of rule,
But Gandhi took them all to school,
And now so much there flourishes—
And tech’s a way that nourishes

So many Indians these days—
But also—there are other ways
That people in that stunning place
Can live their lives with heart and grace.

The Himalayas—more than high—
Appear to pierce the very sky.
And jungles full of wondrous things—
There, lurking Death himself just springs.

And Alexander was to learn—
What through experience we earn:
You cannot beat that thing called Fate—
No matter if your name is “Great”!



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