The World Comes to Morganville
And some boys were not returning -
Chateau Thierry, Belleau Wood,
The Marseillaise, Joan D'Arc,
Bordeaux, Au Revoir, Allo.
Captain Morgan, Stanley Hanson
Saw your terrible Pacific,
So did Dean Young;
Saw the islands red with blood
And never now can tell us.
Let us pause then without words
For those who did not return.
Lars Anderson's grandson -
Darlyne Bahr, the Philippines,
Maurice Schooley saw Australia.
They've all been to Timbuktu.
But tonight let's take from Asia
Little bits of this and that thing,
Let us reach into the carved chest
For our paper napkin figures,
For some fragments from our childhood,
For the tinkle of the wind chimes.
Saris, Buddha, Arabs, Coolies,
Persian Queens, and Cathay splendor,
For poor Madam Butterfly -
Comment
Carson again alludes to the larger world outside of Morganville and those who left and never returned ... primarily
mentioning those lost in the wars.
Dean Young died on the USS Franklin in the Pacific.
Timbuktu is a city in what is now the country of Mali. While there was some activity in the city relating to
the war, the city is used here to represent any place far away from home in Morganville.
Carson is again stressing how the world is small. These particular words served to introduce the Asian scene and
the singing of the Puccini-inspired song "Poor Butterfly."