History Politics Geography

HISTORY POLITICS GEOGRAPHY Some guy once said there's lies, damn lies, and statistics But he surely meant lies, damn lies, and politics; And since all the people are dead in history Why to study it remains a mystery. Where the greatest truth and topography Is found is in studying the field of geography : Full of tectonics where Atlantic’s separating plates both Move as fast as your fingernails’ growth; Full of atmospherics with winds turned by coriolis And electric shimmers called aurora borealis; Full of maps showing countries’ boundaries and capitals Such as tropical Nicaragua’s or Himalayan Nepal’s; Full of guys like Walter Christaller who study locations of cities And can tell Chicagoans why their city is where it is; Full of cool pictures from NASA or Hubble Showing whether there’s going to be weather trouble; Full of V-shaped valleys riverine, U-shaped valleys glacial And C-shaped barchan dunes, all neatly alphabetical. When your solo study with textbook is proving to be boring Your grades get higher and easier and you’ll enjoy the scoring If you start to do a bit of fieldwork in any part of your world, Because geography is all around you, ready unfurled: So much interesting knowledge : all I could ever have wished: Spent a lifetime studying it and still nowhere near finished. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Written by Sydney Peck for Dana'lynn Smith's Contest Politically Educated