An occasional poem by an occasional poet.
Monday Off: Columbus Day
In 1492
Columbus sailed the ocean blue
He was not the first to find what was never
lost or discover what was always there
and then mistake it for what was wanted,
maintaining his own Indies till the end.
Nor was he the last to claim ownership
of the prepossessed or give a curse
with the gifts he gave, killing those he greeted
with infections not of their own making.
But he was among the few to divide
time into before and after. Though now reduced
to a school boy rhyme, he still made the old
feel new, the grey Atlantic turning Caribbean blue.
Monday Off: Columbus Day
In 1492
Columbus sailed the ocean blue
He was not the first to find what was never
lost or discover what was always there
and then mistake it for what was wanted,
maintaining his own Indies till the end.
Nor was he the last to claim ownership
of the prepossessed or give a curse
with the gifts he gave, killing those he greeted
with infections not of their own making.
But he was among the few to divide
time into before and after. Though now reduced
to a school boy rhyme, he still made the old
feel new, the grey Atlantic turning Caribbean blue.
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