7.
Perennial scrutiny of fog
over the hills. Here, American
officials can dress like they did
"back home" and not stew
in their own sweat, like
they would in the lowlands:
long, double-breasted frock coats,
white dress shirts, silk top hats.
A cravat and a stickpin. Wives
in billowing dark linen skirts. Even
lower-level employees wear
three-piece sack suits: boxy
jacket, waistcoat, slim-cut
trousers. For Thanksgving, turkeys
and cranberries shipped from the United
States are unloaded at the docks
in Manila, then carried on the backs
of mules or native porters. Up the muddy
mountain trails lined with fern, the purr
of buttonquail zigzagging in the grass.
Purveyors of fine poetry since 2003.
