Locating Uncle Joe

Locating Uncle Joe
5051

Our Uncle Joe a rover was; he loved to sail the sea
The far-off corners of the globe he sought with fervid glee
And so, to keep our minds at rest and calm our anxious fears,
He sent us postal cards -the kind they use for souvenirs

He sent us cards from Yellowstone, from Egypt and Japan;
From Mozambique, from Martinique, from Fez and Yucatan;
From Tripoli, from Zuyder Zee, from Greenland and the Nile;
From Tunis and from Samarcand in every shape and style

From Paraguay, from Baffin’s Bay, from Quito and Sulu;
From Kandahar, from Zanzibar, from Cork and Timbuctoo;
From frigid Omsk and lonely Tomsk, from Mocha and Oolong;
From old Pekin and Fiji in an ever-growing throng

From Cuba’s shore, from Labrador, from Pango Pang and Nome;
From Borneo and old Saint Jo, from Timbuctoo and Rome;
From Reykjavik, from Bitter Creek they came to swell the muss;
They filled the flat, they killed the cat, they almost smothered us

Poor Uncle Joe died just last week; in Guam he fell asleep
He never was a churchly man and so we sit and weep,
And sadly wonder through our tears which way he chanced to go;
But soon he’ll send a postal card and then, of course, we’ll know
-George Fitch