The Land Acknowledgement

A poem by Dave Monture. a student at Western

Good intentions aside,

Nations’ names mispronounced

plough depth patronization

Indigenous and foreign students

invited into their halls

of subtle intellectual

and academic racism

a patriarchy

These are the rules of

engagement:

Marking rubrics

for the administrative

convenience

of tenured procurers

feeding student wood fibre

into their Colonizing breakdown mill

Minds

sawn, baked and kiln dried

to be sorted into

standardized dimensions

graded, degreed and certified

suited up in priestly robes

to satisfy today’s

commodities market.

Land acknowledgement acknowledged.