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This came out of one of my Australian family's comments on the British Isles. Nothing profound but may get me writing again.

Terra Incognita

Then he, boasting of his own country:
so vast – while mine was so small –
he likened it to a postage stamp.
‘Enough’ – I thought, so I said:
“get me two sheets of paper,
one for you and one for me.”
Taking mine, and folding it
over and over – folding it
until it became smaller
then smaller - and
even smaller.

He looked very perplexed – so I said:
“Do you see what we now have –
two sheets; yours still blank,
while mine is condensed
with hidden significance;
folded in such a way,
it’s not easy to see
what is inside
its essence.

About your land I grant, you may certainly boast,
though, you are still living –mainly on the coast.
In the interior – where your sheet is blank,
there’s the place you seldom visit or see;
still in the minds of the people of time,
who ages ago folded that space from
distance – into their dreamtime.
So be careful how you boast;
unless you’re prepared
to fold your coast,
into the empty
interior

And yet,
I can state,
that this land –
the one to hand,
though being small,
may be larger overall;
with more packed inside:
nature, culture, and history,
not to mention its topography,
that can be realised from outside;
so, if I may, I’ll defend its smaller size.”

© D.G. Moody. 2024

Poetry by D G Moody