First Steps Into the Shatter Zone
by Michael Doyle

Sometimes, I allow myself an inward journey
As I seek to know what the past means to me
Today, nestled in my roadside booth 
I find myself eating tacos as I seek out the truth

What was it like to have encountered Cortez
Does it matter whose history and what each says
I am descended from more than two paths of madness
Each of which brings me happiness and sadness

Marching out with a thirst for gold and destruction
It's difficult to imagine and bring into construction
To think of how anyone could see this as prosperity
To destroy a separate world's meaning and legacy

The conquistadors' greed left behind the shatter zone
Is it foolish that I cry quietly as I think alone?
Coming in the name of glory, God, and dreams of gold
Exactly whose deaths and whose souls came to be sold

Traveling the world brought exchange and conflict
And maybe it's fanciful to sit here and contradict
But imaginary journeys back to another's days
When cities of gold turned out to only be corn maize

Brought about the conquistadors' arrival and landing
Who arrived for the glory and pretense of commanding
The right to treasure and slavery for the king's pleasure
It was seen as one side's right beyond reasonable measure

And still, it is easy to see as I take myself a bite
That the conquered peoples had fed the savage appetite
Of people who did not care what became of chiefdoms
When they had arrived in the name of the Spanish kingdom

Now, as it turns out, had the Spanish only shown deference
Allowing for the native practices and sense of reverence
The chances are there would have been less hostility
And they would have been welcomed with great civility

Instead, the Spanish ignored the signs that did surround
As the conquistadors overstepped themselves on sacred grounds
Allowing the natives only attempts at their outward defense
And thus receiving their just wounds as their recompense

Or at least, a bitter attempt beyond all doubt
At driving these greed-driven Spanish beasts out
Rampaging shows of horror don't often echo divinity
And make it hard to bring conversions to Christianity

The whole scorched earth and taking lives of relative ease
And replacing this with slavery, death, and mass disease
It was a little much as everywhere the white man's recognition
Brought suffering and an end to the entirety of native vision

Columbus and his 'discovery' brought a lot of devastation
Come as it may, it's hard to call this civilization
Perhaps it's only right that we give this truth its conception
And recognize and celebrate that each side made a contribution?

There were no cities of gold, but the world would be fed
And a great nation was forged despite whose side deeply bled
As I finish my tacos, I have a sense of gratitude for maize
And for the measure of my lived through passing of my days

(c) March 21, 2025   Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved