The Pyramid

Dale failed his social studies quiz,

so we tried the Learning Pyramid.

I interviewed Lola Neming

about Lolo, who served as liaison

to the guerrilla soldiers

in the mountains of Guiuan.

I printed Mickey Mouse money.

As more notes flooded the economy,

prices shot up.

A handful of rice, a single egg

cost hundreds, then thousands of pesos.

We watched archival footage

of American generals in Bataan and Corregidor

surrendering to the Japanese forces.

We read Agoncillo’s

History of the Filipino People.

The summit of a pyramid

begins in the concrete base.

Note: This poem was written the day Dale Macabasag turned twelve. My son is named after Edgar Dale, creator of the Learning Pyramid.