I love this one: DESCRIBE YOUR COUNTRY IN A POEM

"Our national dish is a steak with french fries"

So the restaurant that sold mussels that I ate in on Montparnasse in Paris was fibbing about the Belgian national dish ! I want my money back !

Badeye,

That is brilliant ! I loved the mix of place, history and industry.

This is a poem about Ireland that I wrote many years ago. There are a couple of lines I couldn't remember, so just did something new.  Some vocabulary for the  lirish words might be useful ( apologies if you already know them )

a cran ( in this case not a tree) is an "ornament" played on the flute when you drop into the note you want to play from the note above or below - like tapping the flute.

Croker is Croke Park GAA ground in Dublin

Craic is the boasting, complaining, laughter and crying that make up a good night out.

Ireland's not one place,
It keeps moving about.
Just when you think it's settled
It'll leap up and shout.

It's a land where the rivers
Run slow-winding and long
And the crans of the wooden flute
Sing out it's song.

It's the bustle of Belfast
And  the cliffs of Connemara
The Croker in Dublin,
And the burial mounds of Tara.

It's those amber Bushmills waters
And that lump in your throat
Waving goodbye to family
When you leave on the boat.

It's the craic in the back bar,
The horizontal rain,
And the laughter and the boasting
When you come back again.

But much more than that
It's a tiny wee spark,
That lfe-loving glimmer
In each Irish heart.

It's in each generation
Wherever they may be,
At home on this island
Or far-flung across the sea.

So if you've a glimmer of Irish
You can call your own,
There'll always be a welcome
Back here at home.

Here's a little thing I wrote in 2000, it's about my home town Llanelli, Wales, known as Sosban [saucepan] due to the saucepans on the top of the goal posts at Stradey Park rugby ground. And the reference to scarlet shirts is the colour and nick-name for the rugby team.

Sosban, Llanelli

There's a place where the rolling hills of Wales come to an end
In fields of green and golden sands
Where tin and coal and copper worked by men
Who worked until their lives did end

Where rivers run through valleys
And they find their way to the sea
where lies my home town; sacred place
Sosban, Llanelli

I look out from my window
See the Gower looking back
The estuary in between
Ebbing out and flowing back

The streets where miners trod-in coal
And sang their way to work
And tin men of a Saturday
Pulled on the scarlet shirt

There is no other place on Earth
That I would rather be
So I shall die here, rest in peace
In Sosban, Llanelli

While all along the sea-shore
Wild fowl will sing for me
Here is my home town
Sacred place
Sosban, Llanelli

I agree with Ken on this one Lieven, so here is my offering:

I left the UK in two thousand and five,
I was fed up with the change in England,
So I sold my home and to start a new life,
Bought a caravan and new pastures beckoned.

I wanted a place where the weather is warm,
England is too often very cold and so wet,
It was a big decision to make but
Leaving my family was my only regret.

I came to the very south of Portugal,
To the Algarve that's on the Atlantic,
Sea, sun and sand to enjoy most of the year,
Where life is laid back and not hectic.

The locals are polite and so friendly,
A handshake and "Bom Dia" is the greeting,
A kiss on both cheeks from the fairer sex,
A warm welcome and smile at each meeting.

The food simple, plain but delicious,
Piri piri is the usual optional spice,
Frango, pork and fish are the usual fare,
Served with potatoes, vegetables and rice.

The local wines are inexpensive and fine,
Whether it be the white, the green or the red,
But Madronha and Aguadente take with care,
It is moonshine and will go to your head.

The best thing I have done is to move here,
And I do not want to turn back the clocks,
There are only two ways that I will go back,
Screaming and kicking, or packed in a box.

'Bom Dia' - Portuguese for Good Day
'Frango - very young and tender chicken

Roger

This is a great idea, ive loved reading them..

I know i have one somewhere ill look for  and post.. may need some changing now I feel.

I felt like i walked your homeplaces with you.. Lovely..

Thank You"

Old Doll.

A beacon of hope for all in this troubled world. Hopefully she will be smiling soon.

Well Done to You Marc

Kenny

Hi Roger,
I really like your poem, well done sir!
The "bom dia" saying has made its way to the US in the form of an energy drink! Just a few days after you posted your poem, my wife  walks in the house with a little clear bottle, decorated with purple tribal tattoo art, a flame, and a yellow lid. It's supposed to be a "natural" enegy drink that contains acai juice, black tea, yerba mate', guarana , etc, and is rich in B6 and B12 vitamins( used by the body to convert nutrients to energy). Pretty cool huh?

Peace and Guitars and Energy Drink Bars,
Toney