Lachlan Brown #3 Broken English (a found poem)

Broken English (a found poem)

contents page from E.W. Cole’s Better Side of the Chinese Character: Its relation to a “White Australia” and the development of our Tropical Territory”, 1905.


The Chinese not understood
        Our Chinamen not always a fair sample
                Testimonies to General Character

Chinese an intelligent People
    Chinese an Honest People
        Chinese a Sober People
            Chinese a Peaceable and Law-abiding People
                Chinese a Cheerful People
                    Chinese a Patient People
                        Chinese a Grateful People
                   Chinese a Kindly People
               Chinese a Polite People
          Chinese Truthfulness
    Chinese Moral Teachings and Conduct
Chinese as Christians

    Chinese,
    under the same conditions,
    much like ourselves

    Power of
    Environment

    Absurd,
    comic and
    somewhat cruel application of
    the “Alien Immigration and Restriction Law”