A poem sparked by John Lennon’s Imagine. Performed at the ‘A Load of Poets’ open mich night at 1200 Postcards, Hastings on 8th February 2024.

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I heard John Lennon on the radio, 
Singing: 

  Imagine there’s no countries,  (Lennon’s grammar, not mine!)

  It isn’t hard to do, 

And I wondered if what he said was true. 

I had a go: 

So cheerio, Mexico and San Marino 
Gotta go, Togo, 
So long Sierra Leone 
Jog on, Lebanon 

Bye bye Brunei  
Goodbye, Uruguay 
Arrive derci, Turkey 
Cheerio, Djibouti 

St Lucia, sad to lose ya 
Slovakia, Slovenia, be seein’ ya 
Auf Wedersehen, Afghanistan 
China, Japan – down the pan 
South Sudan – limited lifespan 

Farewell the Seychelles 
Dasvidaniya Albania 
Sayonara Myanmar 
Adios Laos 
and Barbados 

Farewell Fiji 
Guinea – finis 
Nepal – been a ball 
Peru – see you 
Iran, Iraq – don’t look back 
Chad – too bad 
South Korea – disappear 

See ya later Venezuela 
Austria, Australia – absolute failure 
Argentina, be seein’ ya 

Kuwait – too late 
No Cuba, Aruba 
Antigua and Barbuda 
Say goodbye to  
Vanuatu 

Poland and Thailand are canned 
England, Finland, Greenland – banned 
Ethiopia, no hope for ya 
Greece – leave in peace 
Singapore – no more 
Tonga – no longer 
USA – gone away 
Wham Bam Suriname 

La France – bon chance! 
Cote d’Ivoire, au revoir! 
Ciao, Italy 
We’ll miss you bitterly. 

I’m not sure where I’m going with this 
Maybe I’m just taking the piss 
But it passed the time 
Till Lennon reached the end of his rhyme 

And then he sang: 

  Imagine no possessions 

Mmm. Maybe at another session…

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