Thomas
Hubbard slams into Columbus Day in the US on Tuesday Poem this week. A
mixed-blood, of (probably) Cherokee, Miami, Irish and English ancestry, Thomas
Hubbard is a Seattle slam poet and T Clear, also from Seattle, has
posted his poem on the NZ-based poetry hub.
She
says: I heard Thomas Hubbard read this on Columbus Day — perfectly topical
and addressing the myriad questions that had been running through my head on
that day — an American holiday — chiefly, why is this a holiday?
Without pretense, Thomas Hubbard nails it here. The language
ain't fancy, and neither are the sentiments, which contrast well with
everything that Columbus represents: the elitist, gas-guzzling,
resource-consuming, earth-desecrating powers-that-be run amok. In essence, our
ruling class. The phrase that comes to mind is American Exceptionalism,
for whose offensiveness we may well thank/blame Columbus himself.
The
poem begins....
You
step out of your sport utility vehicle and
begin
fueling on pump number three while I
finish
up on pump number four.
You
eye my braid, my old car, my flute bag
in
the rear window, and that expression comes
onto
your pale, clean-shaven face.
You
seem upset that I don't shuffle, step aside,
show
embarrassment about my dark skin, and a
why
must I have feathers in plain view?
To
read the rest of the poem and see it read! go
here.
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