They Came Poem by Nassy Fesharaki

They came

Vinieron. ellos tenían la Biblia
y nosotros la tierra
y dijeron: cierren los ojos
y re[c]en y cuando abrimos los ojos,
ellos tenían la tierra
y nosotros la puta Biblia!
Graffiti, seen in Costa Rica Oct.2006,

Today, I read two articles,
The CBCs, and Julia Roth's.

West in a perilous world,
And colonialism in the Occident.

I kept laughing
When encountered:
"Canada and the USA
Are looking for
Friendly partners."

I felt being a buffalo corpse,
Skinned and abandoned,
In the prairies, in the desert.

"Here I am…"
I said, very loud, and clear:
"It is me that you are looking for,
Look at me, I, your old victim! "

I added: "You taught your children
That I am of no use
And replaced me with the cattle."

"We had our ways, were prosperous,
But you called us Barbarians,
And butchered us to extinction…"

"Here I am…"
I said this very loud, and clear:
"It is me that you are looking for."

And wonder if the blind can hear!