Parsley

Prose Poem About the Genocide Under Trujillo

greg skidmore
The dictator Rafael Trujillo did not want the Haitians removed from his borderlands, he wanted them killed. When his soldados approached a hapless campesino they would hold out a sprig of parsley and ask, "How do you call this?" If the peasant answered 'perejil' without trilling the 'r' sound he was assumed to be Haitian and was immediately shot, bayoneted or hacked to death with machete. This was not genocide, mass murder or madness. Over 20,000 men, women and children endured 'perejiling', they were parslied out of existence

Published by greg skidmore

30 years a professional chef now retired and involved in commentary, creative writing and all things lyrical   View profile

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