Voyage Of Columbus Poem by C Richard Miles

There was a rumpus
When Christopher Columbus
Looked at the compass
And guessed it would be best
If he headed westward.
He’d in mind a finer line to China
He’d not pass go, where Vasco
Da Gama had his drama
Rounding Cape Horn in a storm
On his short-cut to Calicut.
Chris had an aversion
To directions Persian
So he made a diversion
On a different version
Of getting to the East, at least,
The thought, of a short sort of jaunt
To Japan, (or Cipangu
The name which that man knew)
He went for the long route
Which they said was the wrong route
But he kept on, like a terrier
Till he landed in America.