Columbus Reevaluated
By Gary Greene
Who was the villain in the saga
When he sailed the ocean blue
Was he the instrument or blunt tool
He sailed for king, queen and cross
Chartered by imperial forces to expand
What type of conquest was he after
And how would that change for those that followed
With writ of Bull, unholy commission
Make manifest the evil of superiority
Make chattel of the Saracens
Trade in property and cruelty
Let’s lay at the feet of the true villains
perverting faith and philosophy
for profit, glory and reach
We can morn the evil that has been done
Try to tear down relics of the past
But we should we look to with hope
with new clearer lens and wider scope
We need to tell the stories as ugly as they are
But let’s ask ourselves where do we go from here
A better world, a stronger society
do we lift the torch due to the fear of change
Or do we lift it to show the way to the future
Gary Greene is a retired engineer, living in Washington state. After working in many different fields, he has concentrated on reading and hosting a small Spanish Book Club for beginning Spanish Speakers.
Impetus for writing this poem has been following the local school boards discussion about critical race theory (CRT), the facts, the confusion, and I think the hidden agendas. Although there is some controversy about the source, of the following quote, I am keeping the thought in front of me “All evil needs to prevail is for good people to do nothing.”