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