August 9, 2009

Summer readings

As everybody knows, Summer is a great time for reading (more than writing, at least in my case). What I’m reading these days is an Italian translation of The Limits of Liberty: American History 1607-1992 (“Short Oxford History of the Modern World”), by historian Maldwyn A. Jones. As the “product description” states it’s a major survey of the American past from the earliest colonial settlements to the present day, in which the Author “assesses not only the epic achievements of the nation, but also the tensions and limitations of the society behind the 'American Dream'.” As far as I know it’s also the most comprehensive one volume history of the United States. A very interesting reading, even though not that friendly towards some American heroes..

Rainbow alphabet doggerel (M,N)

M is for Moon

"I have made a mistake,"
Said the man in the moon,
"For the sun is still shining,
I've arisen too soon

But then I am mad
So it's best I eclipse,
I shall go down to Margate
And buy fish and chips".
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O
n Monday Mr. Murgles
Sold some melons to my mummy.
This may have caused the gurgles
That meander in my tummy.

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N is for Noah

Noah was a naval man
Who made a naval ark
And filled it full of animals
From Nairobi's National Park

There were elephants and buffalos
And even kangaroos,
Giraffes as well as zebras
And naturally gnus

There were anteaters and ostriches,
Two of every kind.
Only nasty nurgles and wild knackersnaps
Were those Noah left behind.

(This extra last verse is reserved for adults,
especially those who still believe in Darwin's theory)


Noah knew a shapely girl
And vowed to save her life,
So by the time it started raining
He had also left his wife.

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Text & images © Mirino (PW) August, 2009
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O and P

K and L