Columbus Day Poem by Dmitry Garanin

Living close to Columbus Avenue
South of Columbia University
Not far from the corner of Central Park
Where the statue of the slave trader is standing
Celebrating that black day
When in October 500 years ago
The pigeon of death with comrades
For the first time descended onto the soil of the Western Hemisphere
I am thinking about probably the first in history
The biggest and the most successful genocide
Having spread Western civilization by a factor of two
That provided me with a bigger freedom of maneuver
And better professional chances
At the cost of destroying civilizations
Of peaceful and nature-bound people
Some of whom haven't left a gene behind

Thinking about
Why the all-seeing Christian God
Had not stopped his envoys with a cross and armor
Having sunk their ships by a storm
I am looking through the depths of alien people
Just like myself
Having filled the void
And the boxes of concrete and glass
Appear to me as a part
Of a giant columbarium

23 October 2014