Genocide
the strategy of a people
seeking a place anywhere at any cost,
driven to clear away
any evidence of life
before their arrival.

Driven to claim the ill-earned
empty title of “first”
Imposing the strategies
of genocide, rape,
cultural destruction,

repeating history
desperately trying
to outrun their fate
Forever doomed
to be shadows

 

Janet Cormier is a painter, writes prose and poetry, and performs comedy. JC prefers different and original over pretty. She loves collecting stuff, but cleaning not so much. Janet also talks to strangers…a lot. Her column now appears weekly on Oddball Magazine.