Poem - 2

Geography Lesson

- Zulfikar Ghose

Summary

Introduction

Zulfikar Ghose, (born March 13, 1935, India [now Pakistan]). He is a Pakistani American
author of novels, poetry, and criticism about cultural alienation. His works are primarily
magical realism, blending fantasy and harsh realism.

About the poem

In this poem, Ghose talks about three things, firstly, how everything looks from the sky,
secondly, how civilization was set up, and lastly, why people hate each other.

Poet’s View on Earth

The poem displays the poet’s concern for the division and friction among people. The poem
begins with the poet seeing the city from the jet. He says that from that height everything
seems too small. He can see the full city properly. Also, he finds that the city is not properly
planned and is disorganized. Thus, it has no particular style.

When the jet reached the height of 10,000 feet, he could see that the cities were located
near the rivers or water resources. He realizes that the availability of water resources is the
reason behind the unorganized cities. The cities grew as per the necessities. People settled
near the water resources more as they require water for almost all their activities. He
understands that the fertile land and water is the key to human existence. Thus, he can see
the logical reason for the development of the cities.

He could see the Earth is round. Lastly, he ponders why people on Earth built walls,
boundaries, and fences have. The poet says that human beings have a lot of knowledge
about the Earth, its shape, the emergence of civilizations, cities, and nations. But people fail
to live peacefully on this amazing planet.

Conclusion

Thus poet feels, if people decide to forget their differences and stay together peacefully,
this planet would be a wonderful, beautiful and amazing place to live.