~ The Thomasites were a group of 600 American
teachers who travelled in 1901 from the United States
to the newly annexed territory of the Philippines
on the transport ship USS Thomas.
Are we not yet as good as
Perfectly pleated cutouts of girls
and boys with red and blue lines
Haven't we lisped all the way
down the alphabet B is for brick
and baseball bat H for the hammock
we wove for the teacher unused
to this heat The ship has gone
away Good morning! Good-bye!
Under acacia trees we build
our résumés folding our knees
repeating and repeating all day
Purveyors of fine poetry since 2003.