Cowboys

→ PUBLISHED IN ISSUE NO. 35: FALL/WINTER 2025

Because I was brown

they made me

play the Indian at recess

Although I was brown

I was a member

of no tribe

Because I was brown

they cocked their thumbs

aimed pasty forefingers

at me while they shouted

Take that, Geronimo!

Although they were white

they had a herd of their own

Because they were white

they always won

Because I was brown

I always died

but dreamt sometimes

I came back

as bison

Although they were white

we showed them no mercy,

charged at them

with our dark bodies

aimed our brown horns

at their light skin

trampled whiteness

under black hooves