Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Sherman Alexie's "Postcards to Columbus" is a powerful, biting critique of the colonial narrative and its impact on Native American life. This poem serves as an imaginary missive to Christopher Columbus, confronting the history and legacy of colonialism in America. It doesn't mince words; rather, it comes forth as a form of resistant, defiant storytelling.

The poem's form isn't a conventional, structured one; it almost resembles a rant. Yet this lack of formal constraints helps to elevate the immediacy and the emotional rawness of the content. This could be seen as a metaphor for the disruption and non-conformity that are inherent in colonial histories.

The journey in the poem begins at the White House and travels "west for 500 years," an ironic take on Manifest Destiny and the myth of the American frontier. The journey here is not linear but cyclical, a "Mobius strip" that turns back on itself. The cyclic history serves as an indictment of the ways in which colonial violence and erasure have been perpetuated over centuries. Columbus is posited as "lost," a pointed irony directed at the explorer who was hailed for discovering a land already inhabited.

Electricity and the Indian child inserting a paperclip into an outlet become powerful metaphors for the violent meeting of two disparate worlds-colonial and indigenous. Electricity is "lightning pretending to be permanent," much like how colonial conquest pretends to be a stable, acceptable state of affairs. It's a vivid portrayal of how colonial logic plugs into and disrupts indigenous life, portrayed here as "insane economics of supply and demand."

Christopher Columbus is sarcastically named "the most successful real estate agent who ever lived," a commentary on the commodification of land and life. The poem points to the way land was sold as a "myth," a romanticized vision that discounts the brutal reality of displacement and cultural erasure.

There is a sense of rebellion in the poem as well-against the English language, against the history represented by Columbus, and against the colonialism symbolized by the journey from the White House. The speaker mentions how his tribe celebrated America's 200th birthday "by refusing to speak English," a form of linguistic resistance against cultural domination.

The poem ends with a powerful image-the first tree destroyed named America, the guardrail crashed becoming a national symbol, and a flag stained with "blood and piss." These serve as alternate, resistant symbols that mock and question the accepted patriotic narratives. "Can you hear the ghost of drums approaching?" the poem concludes, a haunting question that serves as a reminder of a culture and a people who, despite centuries of erasure and marginalization, continue to exist and resist.

"Postcards to Columbus" is not just a poem; it is a polemic, a historical counter-narrative, and a call to awareness. It offers a critical lens to view the history that many take for granted, challenging us to question and confront the histories we inherit.

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