Our scourge was to tell
The death of Cecilia—

Impossible

This plague attacked
                           It was brought here
It spread rapidly

Stopped regular activities
                           Devoted itself absolutely

We lost comparatively everything possible

The sick was never one someone

We want to feel

                           This sickness

Spared neither expense nor time nor trouble.
Altogether we could be done

This disease upon the country
Was worse here than elsewhere

                           It was not due

Now that the plague resumed
Our work we have now

                           Trusting body we are*

*Erasure poem of a letter of condolence from Superintendent of the Yakama Indian
Agency, Washington, October 29, 1918. Bureau of Indian Affairs.