Around the World in the Good Ship DOGGEREL, 98

A doggerel series about the countries of the world.

Liechtenstein.

Oh, I remember Lichtenstein!

In seventh grade Geography!

The teacher chose then to assign

To find the smallest we could see

There on the world map. And so

We saw those tiny places that

The most of us just didn’t know—

Like Lichtenstein—the habitat

Of eagle, ptarmigan, and hare—

Of fox and marmet and some deer

And mountains—mountains!—everywhere.

And not a government you fear.

Old Austria is just next door—

And Switzerland is right nearby.

And what’s a bigger neighbor for?

To have your back ... so keep them nigh!

Around the World in the Good Ship DOGGEREL, 97

A doggerel series about the countries of the world.

Libya.

Its capital is Tripoli—

A name that just delighted me

When first I learned it in that song—

Marines. And shores. Oh, that was long

Ago. And soon I learned the map—

Could find it there. (I had no app—

Not in those very distant days

So clouded by Time’s unkind haze.)

It’s on the Mediterranean coast

With such a history. One could boast

About the ancient cultures there—

The coastal views, the desert air.

But civil war now shreds each day

With knives of fear and swords that slay.

Another place where human fears

Are drowned in blood, in human tears.

Around the World in the Good Ship DOGGEREL, 96

A doggerel series about the countries of the world.

Liberia.

It lies there on the western coast

Of Africa. Its history, long—

And slave-related (much was wrong),

But now there’s much of which to boast.

Monrovia—the capital.

There are some flatlands—jungles, too.

And heat too fierce for me (and you?).

Oh, it’s a land where nothing’s dull!

It’s got a hippopotamus—

A pygmy species living there—

And monkeys swinging everywhere—

Gorillas eat—don’t make much fuss.

It’s been an independent state—

It never was colonial.

And there—with history so full—

They’ve been controlling their own fate.

Around the World in the Good Ship DOGGEREL, 95

A doggerel series about the countries of the world.

Lesotho.

I think I’m feeling kind of dumb—

My brain is reeling, somewhat numb.

My brain seems brainless—like a thumb.

Lesotho? I’d not heard of it.

And so am feeling dumb (a bit)—

My wits, it seems, have shrunk to wit.

It’s there in Southern Africa—

I should have known about it, bruh.

Instead, all I can say is “Duh!”

It’s got some diamonds—building stone.

(And I can bet I’m not alone

In ignorance—as tests have shown!)

Its independence—’66—

From England. And we now can fix

That time. The starting point. The mix

Of politics and empires gone—

Of hope, that travels ever on—

Of hope that sees a hopeful dawn.

Around the World in the Good Ship DOGGEREL, 94

A doggerel series about the countries of the world.

Lebanon.

Oh, the problems it faces are daunting to see—

Are there hopes that the people will ever be free?

Can they ever find safety? Or hope in their hearts?

Or will Lebanon stay just so fractured? In parts?

And it once, so I’ve read, was a place people went

To escape all the winter, the problems life sent.

It’s dissolved into conflict and horrible war—

And we mustn’t forget what our empathy’s for!

So we hope in our hearts that they’ll one day find peace—

And will feel all the joy that will come with release

From the sounds of the battles, the aches of the fear.

And may all swiftly come—may it all turn out near.

Around the World in the Good Ship DOGGEREL, 93

A doggerel series about the countries of the world.

Latvia.

It sits beside the Baltic Sea—

Across from Sweden, so I see.

The Nazis came—that world war.

But now they’re gone; they are no more.

And then ’twas Soviet, of course,

Until the end of that dark force.

And Latvia—republic now—

All tyranny they disavow.

The forests there are heavy, and

They have a lot of farming land.

And so their future’s looking bright—

Here's hoping that it all goes right!

Around the World in the Good Ship DOGGEREL, 92

A doggerel series about the countries of the world.

Laos.

In Southeast Asia—far away—

An ancient, lovely land.

The Mekong River flows throughout—

Oh, nothing there is bland.

It’s right next door to Vietnam,

Their histories entwined

In war and peace and other ways—

As you can quickly find.

It’s got some tigers—elephants—

Exotic snakes and more

Inhabiting the jungles—and

Some grisly jungle lore!

It’s landlocked—is the only one

In Southeast Asia thus

Mysterious, it seems in ways,
To many folks (like us).