I will return to teaching social studies in the fall. I love reviewing geography, Washington State history, ancient history, and current events. I was looking for ways today to combine literature and history. I was reminded of this lovely poem.
Geography 2
The land wrote itself before any
came to chart it: continents broke
and reassembled;two masses crashed
and threw a mountain range, a border
waiting for customs posts; glaciers cut
narrow valleys, close and separate,
each shuttered cautiously from its neighbour.
A coast curved itself into a haven
for shipping; a hill kept watch
on the landscape till the fort was built,
A river spread rich gentle living
over these fields; elsewhere, the want
of water made the contours stand out
like starving bones.
And when it was all ready
they came, at last, to be masters
of it all; to take up the lives
mapped out for them.
Sheenagh Pugh
The land wrote itself before any
came to chart it: continents broke
and reassembled;two masses crashed
and threw a mountain range, a border
waiting for customs posts; glaciers cut
narrow valleys, close and separate,
each shuttered cautiously from its neighbour.
A coast curved itself into a haven
for shipping; a hill kept watch
on the landscape till the fort was built,
A river spread rich gentle living
over these fields; elsewhere, the want
of water made the contours stand out
like starving bones.
And when it was all ready
they came, at last, to be masters
of it all; to take up the lives
mapped out for them.
Sheenagh Pugh
