As the orphans lie
in quiet slumber
two floors high,
they hear the bingo numbers roll
from a caller standing just below
a window of their dorm.
And as they doze,
some hear numbers
that are their own-
laundry numbers given
when first they entered S.V.O.
In a bed,
by the window,
under which
the caller has his role,
lies a boy called "Bingo",
whose laundry number
happens to be
thirty-three.
On and on,
litany-like,
the numbers from the caller roll,
until at last he hollers out:
"N Thirty-Three."
"Bingo!" shouts a grownup voice
from the courtyard down below.
"Here I am!" shouts Bingo,
hurling wide the shutters
of his window
two floors high
above the picnic crowd.
February 9, 200l