Leif Erikson Day Poem by Ima Ryma

Leif Erikson does have a day,
October 9th to be exact,
Proclaimed throughout the U.S.A.
He did beat Columbus in fact,
As first European to come
To the New World to 'civilize, '
But gets less credit, so say some,
Because his trip did not give rise
To European migration,
In mass to a new time and place,
With old conquering to be done.
Columbus' trips ballooned that pace.

A pagan Viking - just no way
To get a Federal holiday.