Civilization has reached
the promised land
Between the snap crackle pop
of smoke stacks
and multicoloured rivers [...]
Here, the narrator highlights the horrors of American colonization by using the word “civilization” in a highly ironic manner. The narrator uses this quotation to highlight how ironic it is that the “civilized” European colonists wrought only destruction and sorrow upon the Native Americans’ land. The narrator describes that snap, crackle, and pop of smoke stacks. Here, she is pointing out the way European colonists immediately sought to industrialize the Native American land. Almost immediately, the European colonists tainted the environment and humanity.
[…] Burying
breathing forests and fields
beneath concrete and steel
stand shaking fists
waiting to mutilate
whole civilizations
ten generations at a blow [...]
In this quotation, the narrator talks about the environmental destruction that colonists wrought upon American land. She describes the way in which colonists buried the “breathing” trees, plants, and fields. The narrator paints a very specific and grandiose image in the reader’s mind—one concrete and steel being poured and molded on top of the environment. The “shaking fists” she refers to belong to those of the colonists, who overtook everything—both nature and man. This quotation highlights the utter destruction that occurred at the hands of the European colonists. It explains how colonists instantly overtook both the peoples and the environment and destroyed it en mass without any consideration for anybody or anything else.
The sinuous planes
of my brown body
carry no hint
of the need
to be caressed
desired
loved [...]
In this quotation, the narrator bitterly points out how Native Americans—like herself—were dehumanized and objectified at the hands of European settlers, namely European men. She points out how the color of her skin instantly de-humanizes her in the eyes of the European men. Her “brown” skin instantly categorizes her as something less than human—as someone whose entire body serves only one purpose. The narrator then emphasizes how she has needs that go far beyond sexual needs. She is a person who needs to be loved, respected, caressed, and treated with kindness and tenderness. She uses this quotation to highlight how the color of her skin instantly defines her in the eyes of the European men.
I am the giver of life
to whole tribes
I carry the seeds
carefully through dangerous
wastelands […]
Here, the narrator confronts the way that her body has been commodified and misused by evil European settlers. She points out that her body is powerful because it has the power to create, hold, and give life. The narrator describes herself as “the giver of life.” She wants to point out to those who have raped and hurt her that the very gift they tried to force upon her is what makes her strong and powerful. As the giver of life, she is responsible for the success and creation of entire generations. She is the one who carried those individuals through hard times and protected them from the dangers of the world. In this way, the narrator is reclaiming all that the settlers took away from her. She is the past, present, and future of her tribe.
