"HALF A PLANET"

The epitome of greed received three wooden ships from a queen
Who wished to amass vast riches for her Catholic Spanish regime!
Their crossing the Atlantic Ocean as far as they could range
Initiated the devastating Columbian exchange!

Half a planet, half a planet!
With its blood running red!
Half a planet, half a planet!
One hundred million dead!

Eventually, the French and British Empires followed suit
With their voraciously capitalist colonial pursuits.
The immense destruction perpetrated by these swarming hordes
Heralds the arrival of our alien overlords.

Half a planet, half a planet!
With its blood running red!
Half a planet, half a planet!
One hundred million dead!

What would be here now
If the Maya libraries hadn't been burned down?

What would be here now
If the Inca had been left fully unbound?

What would be here now
If the Mexica had continued to build more towns?

What would be here now
If the Haudenosaunee had retained their ground?

As the citizens of the native cities succumbed to diseases,
Much of their indigenous technological progress ceased.
Rainforest vegetation overwhelmed their buildings and streets,
And artifacts and corpses decayed amidst subtropical heat.

Half a planet, half a planet!
With its blood running red!
Half a planet, half a planet!
One hundred million dead!

Half a planet, half a planet!
Half a planet, half a planet!

[Copyright 2020 Todd Tamanend Clark. All rights reserved.]