Columbus
had an idea.
“I
want to sail west to get to the east.”
No
one would listen.
“You’re
crazy,” they said.
“The
world’s too big.”
He
went to Spain.
They
gave him ships.
He
sailed west.
Bumped
into a new continent.
Soon
others did too.
Spain
and Portugal explored that world
Hoping
to find riches.
What
they found was new land to fight over.
The
pope settled the dispute by splitting the new world in two
As
if he had that right to do.
Slaves
were made of Africans.
The
natives of America were killed.
Cortez,
the conqueror, ruined many lives in Mexico.
The
Aztecs,
Descendants
of peoples who crossed the ancient Ice Age land bridge.
Descendants
of the Olmecs.
Advanced
in math and astronomy.
The
great pyramid builders of the new world
Perished
because of Spanish quests
For
Gold, God and Glory and the new plagues they brought.
They
returned the favor
With
diseases of their own.
After
Spain, other countries moved out.
The
Dutch went for profits.
The
British claimed their piece in North America.
North
America should be watched.
New
things are brewing there.
