Around the World in the Good Ship DOGGEREL, 86

A doggerel series about the countries of the world.

Kazakhstan.

This country now called Kazakhstan

Was Soviet back in the day—

Then freedom came—that was the plan—

And now they live another way.

The biggest landlocked country—yes,

The largest in this weary world—

The Ural River, we can guess,

Is like a ribbon—long uncurled.

Ethnicities are many there—

More than one hundred—such a lot—

So there’s unease, well, everywhere,

In mountains cool, in deserts hot.

The climate ranges to extremes—

The people work hard to survive—

This is no land of Tweets and memes—

So let's all hope that peace will thrive.