Colonization Success Story by Lillian Fuglei
We found her body
408 miles from where her grandson
Reported it laid to rest
Two letters added
Vado turned El Vado
And her burial ground was desecrated-
A beloved border town
Transfigured with shame
To the glitz (and grit)
Of the american dream
Suddenly she was the good kind of brown
Not an immigrant here to steal your job,
But a true American
Been here from the start
Her grandson
Weaponized her memories
No longer cherishable,
He polished them,
Sharpened their edges
To cut through fine threads of empathy
Delicately woven
Into legislation
That could prevent his mess
From impacting others
Decades later and his granddaughters skin
(one Neutrogena foundation shade
lighter than her mothers)
Burned red-hot with shame
As mentions of the women she loves
Are beat back with bible verses
Colonizer’s language
Spit by colonizer’s victims
“It’s all in the past”
He would say,
Though, Nebraska sun
Brings him back to roots each summer
Skin the same shade
As his misplaced grandmother
“I gave this poem up after a couple of rejections because all I heard was that it was too personal. There wasn't enough context that would make my family's story make sense. That while the words were good, it was hard to connect with. I felt like giving more context would ruin what I was trying to write about, so I just let it sit untouched.”
Lillian Fuglei is a queer poetess based in Denver, Colorado. She began writing poetry in High School, after a lifetime of attending open mics thanks to their mother. You can find them on Instagram at literary.lillian.