Two days ago, we opined “it’s hard to discover Columbus.” This evening,
I started reading a rollicking piece of nonfiction that might help me understand
old Cristoforo better. It’s Martin Dugard’s new book The Last Voyage of Columbus:
Being the Epic Tale of the Great Captain’s Fourth Expedition, Including Accounts
of Swordfight, Mutiny, Shipwreck, Gold, War, Hurricane, and Discovery (2005).
Dugard ends the book with these words:
“No matter their merits, arguments will follow Columbus forever.
History does not know what to make of the Admiral of the Ocean
Sea or how to categorize the ramifications of his discoveries
without passions of one kind or another intruding. The explorer will
always remain something of an enigma. He was Italian, yet claimed
the New World for Spain. He was a compassionate Christian, yet
considered slavery a viable form of commerce. He was a man of
great charisma whose passion sometimes turned others against
him. He was an explorer – a wanderer, really – who fancied himself
capable of great bureaucratic skills. His advocates marveled at his
daring and tenaciousness, persevering so long in his quest for funding
and then defying conventional wisdom to sail across an uncharted sea.
His detractors thought him brutal and weak. The only certainty about
Columbus is that, for better or worse, he chose to live a bold life rather
than settle for mediocrity.”
Sounds about right to me. Choosing to “live a bold life rather than settle for
mediocrity” is not a bad epitaph. I wish we could also say Columbus sought
to live the Golden Rule, rather than seeking gold for rulers — and himself.
As we leave Columbus’ day behind, here is a sneak preview of
our newest Honored Guest poet, Andrew Riutta. You will see
that there was no affirmative action or cronyism involved when I
asked this “rising star” Italo-American haiku poet to join us at
f/k/a. More about Andrew tomorrow.
north star…
as if I could find
my way
mayfly
a shattered world
through its wing
half moon—
between two crickets
a year has passed
starlit mountain…
the sound of water
returning to itself
Andrew Riutta from Pipeline, Simply Haiku (Summer 2005, vol. 3:2)
October 13, 2005
last words on Columbus (for now)
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