As I passed over Little Bourke
   Where tiny shop-fronts line the way --
Quaint shops in whose bright windows lurk
   Strange mysteries from far Cathay,
I passed a man clad all in blue,
   Who went on gaily slippered feet.
And I was glad; for here I knew
   The East and West may sometimes meet.

"Ha, John," said I.  "Day welly ai'.
   "You allee same sell muchee floot?"
His placid Oriental eye
   Surveyed me coldly, head to boot.
Nought of insouciance, of pose,
   Lost he, this man, cerulean clad,
Who said, as pencilled eyebrows rose,
            "Are you quite mad?"

"Den"
Herald, 25 January 1929, p4