A Stop-off in Lima Peru!

It's hard to think of myself,
As anything but country,
Country may have been,
Nine thousand miles away,
But next door in my philosophy.

I grew up in a wood frame house,
Not much but screens in the windows,
Barefeet was safer than shoes,
So's you wouldn't have to deal with moss on your toes.

We could play outside,
In the cool sweet grass,
Often spy a half grown boa,
As curious and fearful as we were,

The land all around,
Flooded for three months a year,
Our seasons were divided by half
Never saw a leaf turn orange.

News was what you could hear,
From VOA or Radio Havana
Them fellers from Cuba are slick,
Talked just like most New Yorkers!

I turned seventeen,
Got a letter with fancy writin,
Some man in the army,
Making requests of my presence.

They even got that mixed up,
'Cause they sent the darn thing
With dry goods and tools,
On a ship from New Orleans.

My pap, he went to the city,
Got with the bigwigs at the government
They and the Marines on guard laughed
There ain't much love 'tween the Army and Marines.

Turned out that letter,
Well, it was six weeks late,
The army was threatenin',
Wonder how the Peruvians would feel,
About our army stampin' on Peruvian dirt.

Yep, I was nine thousand miles
Fur enough from New York City
And some beaurocrat and his soldiers,
Was coming to take me away!

The folks at the embassy called to Panama,
Told a general's aid there,
In some steamy, jungle office,
Nearby that big ole Canal

How dumb his general staff was,
Writin' letters and sendin' 'em by boat!
How do you figger you're goin' to arrest,
Some feller in the backside of nowhere.

It ain't your get up to invade some country
'Cause you messed up communications
You sent a military letter in a boat bound for Malayia
With a stop off in Lima, Peru!!