how the West was lost by Lashelle Johnson

how the West was lost

by Lashelle Johnson

my family was Western before West was a word we slept on the ground your Spanish, French, English feet trampled

you drained the life from our earth replenishing its lost nutrients with our blood you are not Western

you immigrated here the land already ‘colonized’ our wealth became your ruins and now you visit the museum in honor of the slaughter