by Mike Mesterton-Gibbons

We know the pratie’s what the Irish eat.
Of eighteen forty-seven they despond:
No praties meant a famine so complete,
They needed help from way across the Pond.
Good-hearted Choctaw in a distant land
Eked out their cash to help the Irish feed.
Today their gift is valued at five grand …
Both Navajo and Hopi now have need.
“You won’t get by alone,” the Irish said.
“And we recall we’re in your people’s debt:
Long years ago you sent us cash for bread.
One million’s the thanks, today, you get.
And though a gift is not a loan, all told,
Now we’ve repaid our debt two-hundredfold!”