Larry David

The first time I read through this piece, I thought the piece was about the way Filipinos were mistreated before and after World War II. The tennis courts that were built by Filipinos but were meant for the officers, the way that they did all the work for each racket, each game, each court, yet were never allowed to play the game they worked so hard on. How the officers that took over the island forced them into labored jobs but by the end of the war there was no longer workers who would do these jobs by force. I had seen only the basic layer of the poem, misinterpreting all the underlying messages because they were things I had not known.

Once I had looked up all the things I had not known, I realized how much more there is than meets the eye. The Island of Corregidor is something I have heard mentioned growing up because of my family, but a place I had never put much thought into. The island’s translation is The Island of the Correction, a place where the Spanish used to place correctional institutions. The lighthouse that is a staple to the island was created to warn Manila of any oncoming attacks. The island has a dark past, one that many, myself included, do not know the full story of. The sampaguita flower is the national flower in the Philippines, more commonly known as jasmine. These flowers are widely spread throughout the island and have a very distinct but wonderful scent that makes the island not so dark and dreary.

Another thing that was mentioned in the poem is the Bataan Death March, which was tragic and completely unethical. The Japanese Army lead a group of 80,000 Filipino and American prisoners on an 60 mile trek to Bataan. Many were brutally killed and beaten throughout the march, too weak to continue on from lack of food and water. Douglas MacArthur was also mentioned in the poem, a retire war veteran who had become the Philippines defense advisor. During WWII he had managed to escape the island, claiming “I Shall Return”