By R. Joseph Rodríguez
cristobal colón (cristoforo colombo) aka christopher columbus
drowns by the pier
after being toppled
from his pedestal
where he stood
with a swollen foot
like an oedipus
down down he went
by organized groups
cc knew early on
he had it coming
oh he had it coming
he read the news
that warned him
of his removal
¡ten piedad!
¡ten piedad!
the elders cry
he’s gotta go!
he’s gotta go!
the young cry
who read
and speak
so deeply
and know
and know
once cc ruled
sailed and faced
mutiny favored
gold and greed
after that
reconquista
somebody saw cc
coming in waves
a tidal surge of them
coming to shore
not for taking
not for empire
not for flags
rejoice rejoice
the people rose
the people rise
rise like the tide
the tide is here
Visions of Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca
You shared papaya with us
a year later at harvest time.
My father said you fell hard
from the sky, while mother
said you were thrown
overboard by the high tide
and our beloved sisters.
My brothers found you
with poked skin, mumbling
with torn lips, crawling about
and under the glaring sun,
a god nobody names now.
Grandfather foretold
you’d be seen before
a city built upon a hill.
The Spanish lessons
we get place an accent
on the capital letter A.
We know you closely
and deeply. You observed
and spoke so little, taking
notes like an autoethnographer.
We fed you slices of cactus.
The wind tells of Juliana,
India Juliana, a Guaraní woman
of Asunción. You ordered her
executed before the people.
How our descendants
giggle at your last name,
you cow-headed fellow!
Papayas we still eat and savor,
remembering to spit the seeds out.
El Paso del Norte, Tejas
Chihuahuan Desert
Joseph Rodríguez is the author of This Is Our Summons Now: Poems (FlowerSong Press, 2022), a 2023 finalist for Best First Book of Poetry from the Texas Institute of Letters, and the author of research articles, critical essays, and books. His poems have appeared in California English, Entre Magazine, and The Texas Observer, among other journals. Currently, he teaches language arts and reading at an early college high school and is a teacher educator at local colleges and universities in central Texas. Follow him on social media @escribescribe, or write to him at escribescribe@gmail.com.