“Refresh and Renew” © Dr. Regina Valluzzi

 

Revisionist Villanelle

Columbus couldn’t navigate for shit,
but that isn’t how his story is told.
There is too much history we don’t admit.

If you praise Columbus— quit.
He chopped off hands for lack of gold.
The man couldn’t navigate for shit.

In 1500, Ferdinand found Columbus unfit.
Spaniards were tired of being controlled.
There is too much history we don’t admit.

Columbus was stripped of his governorship,
but still funded to find more gold,
even though he couldn’t navigate for shit.

A tyrant, murderer, enslaver. A culprit
textbooks let get away. So many sins untold.
There is too much history we don’t admit:

Columbus was a sex trafficker. We omit,
and no one knows how many girls he sold.
Christopher Columbus is a piece of shit.
There is too much history we don’t admit.

 

Dustin Brookshire is the author of To The One Who Raped Me (Sibling Rivalry Press, 2012) and the curator of the Wild & Precious Life Series and founder/editor of Limp Wrist.

Art can illuminate even the most elusive and difficult to comprehend ideas. Visual rules and tightly codified visual metaphors help scientists communicate complex ideas mostly amongst themselves, but they can also become barriers to new ideas and insights. Dr. Regina Valluzzi’s images are abstracted and diverged from the typical rules and symbols of scientific illustration and visualization; they provide an accessible window into the world of science for both scientists and non-scientists.