….as I stake out
my claim in Indian
territory
I wonder
why he refused to
roll that silver tongue
around “hindoo”
and why I too
take pride
in that
mispronunciation
remembering Ma’s
constant correction –
it is not “pro-noun-ciate”!
I wonder if
that hidden pronoun
when i enunciate
the continuous
tense
tends to
pull apart
the warring partners
in this
identity pretense
you know –
the one where
you tell me that
you discovered me
in america
half a world away
from india
and the one where
you tell me then
that I should
feel honored
for doing brownface
in whitemask
redskinning and brave-ing
and seminole-ing and squaw-ing
to your marching
bands
marching
constantly
to your
mis/pronoun/ciating
and yet…..