Many places we learned about simply no longer exist.

The facts that used to earn us "A's" subsequent events do twist.

News no longer German-ates in the newspapers of Danzig,

Anyone who believes so must their knowledge jerry-rig.

Geography we knew so well, history sure does change.

What used to be a country right there is no longer! Strange!

Formosa has changed its name. One can only cope with liquor

And want to simply Taiwan on. Geography now seems quicker.

Slowenia is another one and what about Croatia?

It's not only dogs that have come from lands Dalmatian.

Constantinople's renaming involved a lot of Istanbul.

New Amsterdam's mayor? Any knowledge there to cull?

Is Bohemia an actual state? or is it a state of mind?

Its neighbor once was Moravia. Now it's also hard to find.

Where in the world is Slovakia? We'll have to Czech on that.

Charting the mountains of Holland can leave one's ego flat.

Names are always changing. We can't really get a hold on

The language spoken in Danzig, which now belongs to Poland.

So is it really important to know the current name

Of anything so transient as a place of passing fame?

It isn't that the world today knows not about itself,

But the world's no longer what it used to be. It seems some elf

Came at night and changed the signs, well before we knew it.

To learn about Mt. Everest now, one first must Katmandu it. 

Copyright © 2008 by Frank Koerner