He meant well, that kid.
He'd asked, "Do you have a few minutes
to talk about our Saviour Jesus Christ?"
They demurred at the point of an arrow.
I expect he forgave them, that kid,
as conquerors--armed with blankets and bibles--
always do.
____
for this.
That’s an intriguing title, Shay, and I love the line ‘They demurred at the point of an arrow’ and that kid conqueror-armed with blanket and bible.
ReplyDeleteThey gave me chills... the way it digs into the irony of it all... turning things inside out... to show the truth screaming insine the madness.
ReplyDeleteUm... "inside" *sigh*
DeleteAnd small pox and measles. Ever since my husband's dog accidentally slipped out the door ( ahem) these wandering missionaries leave us alone.
ReplyDeleteAnd I think of that poor delusional boy killed by an arrow...
ReplyDeleteand I'm with Toni on this... he probably carried flues and measles
Where I live, there are still living elders who remember those conquerors armed with blankets and bibles........One spoke at a friend's poetry event the other week, about plunging into the water as a small boy after his departing parents in their canoe, when they were forced by law to leave him at the residential school. The pain.
ReplyDeleteShort and to the point. love it!
ReplyDeleteOh, the incident has gripped headlines here in the last few days and the common refrain is that the tribes are protected and their way of living has to be preserved — there is no government-sponsored rule of law there which is very well so because the histories tell us that the colonial provocations and wars lead to the extinction of many local tribes. They are the ones who are fearful of the "foreigners".
ReplyDeleteVery well penned!
I have to read the news more regularly... I have a mental block against the madness at the moment.. But without knowing the back story, this poem speaks to me of 2 thousand years of brainwashing and exploitation, and a persistent consciousness that everything is okay, so long as you keep the eye on the prize.
ReplyDeleteYeah.. caught up the story..fully agree. Such a sense of entitlement is decidedly out of keeping in the post post modern world... but still, there it is.
DeleteDude was a graduate from Oral Roberts U, I been there ... they have a chapel (or did, back in '73) with these big plastic hands reaching skyward and down that light up when the organ softly swells. That kind of forgiveness is the virus which wiped out native populations around the world. No thankee.
ReplyDeleteWow, this packs such a sneaky punch!
ReplyDeleteFabulous write!
ReplyDeletearmed with blankets and bibles. You are so clever -
ReplyDeletea sharp bite ~
ReplyDelete