conquest manifestation

it’s hard to imagine
the negatives
you know, the lynching,
the stabbing
the cultural murder
when the profits of conquest
manifest
into such charming trinkets.

sidestreets of envious apartments
cafes pouring liquid chocolate into the
already satisfied gorges of we travellers.

elite clothing for the enhanced beauty of the bored.

bleached marble tables
situated beside
tanned almond leather chairs.

how could this colonialism
be so bad?

and then the hurdles
the occasional homeless person
presents.
a reminder of reality.

but oh, to experience the wealth of wonder
this stolen treasure has given.
to a country with a history of guilt and bloodshed
what a proud people.

perhaps that is why
I envy the life
if with a cautious mind.