Immigrant
Flagged - Words in Exile: Entry 5
This word was flagged by the U.S. government for erasure in 2025. Click Here. Or not.
blonde hair, blue eyes – the first immigrants didn’t knock. American chestnut – they felled it to clear the field. called it progress. called it god.
feral pig – Spanish immigrants let it loose. still rooting through burial grounds. camas crushed under hoof. four hundred years of uninvited mouth. it hasn’t stopped eating.
French immigrants brought wool striped with points – each point, a pelt. river ice, skinning knife. someone drapes the blanket over a child. $400 at the Hudson’s Bay store.
an immigrant child draws a house with no door. crayon pressed so hard it snaps. Tagetes – marigold for the dead. the teacher corrects her English.











loving this “banned words” exploration. your emotions hold value. to me, at least. thank you.
Stellar! 🌟