The Rock

[bjondon]

Around the rugged rock Iraq, Iran,
back to back with Pakistan;
winds and words
wind around India,

waves crash
Bangladesh, surf booms
Burma,
moon murmurs Myanmar;

trying to Thai-land to sea
so lazy Malaysia can try to swing free;
go sing a song of Singapore glee.
But tired now of this Thailand:

curling up by campfire Cambodia;
burning up by fire-named Vietnam;
a fire that fires clay to China;
a fire that flies North South North

calling: Korea! Korea!

rushing Russia to Norway
and the sweet sudden pleasure
of Sweden finding Finland
still in Russia.

Still as a stone,
these love letters, this list:
Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania.
Still as a stone, one last Russian pearl -

rolls to Poland,
journeys to Germany;
this journey without end-mark;
Denmark, and still Germany!

Fatherland, featherland, sleeping Netherlands
in bellbottomed jimjams
Belgium is dreaming
of fancy pants France, whose only pain

Poor girl! She's in love with Spain
who turns always to Portugal
her Atlantic main.
How western winds

set hearts to spin.
And when, oh when
shall pleasure begin?
Now! All Spain is gone:

he does not falter
for little Gibraltar,
but joins in dance
Riviera France.

Our roulette race F1's through Monaco,
rococo's Italy, gogo's slow Slovenia;
then straight as a crow, Croatia down we go,*
then up! up! Montenegro!

From A to zanier we skid past Albania;
sliding around Greece
we grab a Turkey sandwich,
just in time for the Black Sea Show:

It's Budgerigars Romancing Huge Cranes
in Bulgaria, Romania and Ukraine.
We settle down; there's no rush here.
Russia's gorgeous, Georgia's delicious

and there's always more Turkey,
dripping with sweet and sour:
syrup of Syria,
lemon of Lebanon.

This is reality on a plate
as Israel, Palestine and all Eurasia
hinges on Egypt's African gate.

Past the garden of Jordan; say Howdy
to Saudi; our neighbours all 'Yes men',
dwindling to Yemen, then just
Oman.

A thousand and one Arabian nights:
United Arab Emirates.
A thousand and two: Saudi Arabia blue;
cut the ice with Qatar; catch the last Saudi train;
this journey's Kuwait finished.
Let the rock roll again.

*Don't blink, or you'll miss Bosnia's toe.

[Macavity]

I found this one more entertaining than the Africa one Jules. The one false note was the sonic pay-off for rushing Russia did not balance with the reality...a chunk of ice-bound Siberian coast cannot be rushed Highlight...clay/China!

cheers

mac

[bjondon]

Thank you mac, I did enjoy dismissing Russia's vast coastline in two words.
This is quite a cumbersome prefab to tussle with compared with Africa's
mere 34, so I'm pleased you made it round.
A little bird told me Belgium-France-Spain-Portugal was a bit weak so have
overhauled that whole section.

Was:
Fatherland, featherland, sleeping Netherlands;
but jump the bell Belgium,
revolutionise France,
spin Spain,
pausing only for Portugal,
a mere falter for Gibraltar.
Speed on ! Spain's gone.
Freewheel France. Put your bets on!

J

[twoleftfeet]

Hi,Jules

You and you alone,' own the geogra-poem jaunt gig!

Muchly amused,
Geoff

[bjondon]

Ha! It's a lonely job but someone has to do it
Glad it raised a snigger or two.
Now I'm wondering how many people I can offend by doing a borough county coastal one-liner.
Jules the Circular

[twoleftfeet]

Ha! It's a lonely job but someone has to do it
Glad it raised a snigger or two.
Now I'm wondering how many people I can offend by doing a borough county coastal one-liner.
Jules the Circular

You'll never know until you've tried!

How about the The Transport For London (underground,DLR etc) map?
An atlas of the Ancient World? Provinces of Gaul? Britannia?
Provinces of India? An old map from circa 1900 showing the British Empire (in pink)?

Geoff