Afghanistan’s a land-locked nation,

It’s been that way since its creation,

Which was in 2,000-3,000 BCE,

But you will find that it’s history,

In politics started back in 1709,

When Shah Durrani was first in line.

He founded his state around Kandahar,

As a buffer ‘twixt Britain and the Russian Tsar…

In 1947 the US-backed mujahideen,

Fought a war with the ‘Soviet Afghans’, a war quite extreme.

More than a million Afghans lost their lives,

The ones who live on struggle just to survive,

Because this is the world’s most dangerous land,

Despite its wonderful mountains, its rivers and sand.

It’s the world of the two-line landai,

A poem in which women say,

Just what they’re thinking about that day,

Of what they dream, for what they pray.

Farmers, in the absence of a radio,

Take songbirds with them, whilst they plough, they sow,

The schools are scarce, but they’re eager to learn,

So there’s an impromptu classroom at every turn.

So that’s Afghan hist’ry in just a small spoonful,

I’ll say that the capital is now situated at Kabul,

And it’s a beautiful country, ravaged by war,

I hope that, reading this poem, you will want to learn more…