CURSIVE WRITER’S CREDO
by Dee Allen
Just because you steal something
Landmass
Continent
Vast territory
The island standing erect
On top of a giant turtle’s back
Doesn’t mean you own it!
Settlement
“Free country”
Colonial territory
“White man’s land”
Start of Empire
Gains ill-gotten
With instruments:
Muskets,
Smallpox blankets,
Army swords
This is still Indian Country
First ones in the Bay
First villages in the Bay—Yelamu, Huichin
First languages used—Ramaytush, Chochenyo
First walkers on this land of oaks
Haven’t vanished into the past
And you live on Ohlone land!
W: 12.11.19
[ For Richard Sanderell, The Cursive Writer. ]
About the author
Dee Allen is an African-Italian performance poet based in Oakland, California. Active on the creative writing & Spoken Word tips since the early 1990s. Author of 5 books [ Boneyard, Unwritten Law, Stormwater and Skeletal Black, all from POOR Press and coming soon, Elohi Unitsi from Conviction 2 Change Publishing ] and 24 anthology appearances [ including Your Golden Sun Still Shines, What Is Love, Rise, Extreme, The Land Lives Forever and Civil Liberties United, edited by Shizué Seigel ] under his figurative belt so far.
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