The Only Place in the U.S. with Zero COVID Deaths

Copyright © 2022 by Terisa Siagatonu. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on May 26, 2022, by the Academy of American Poets.

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“I wrote this poem from the place where most of my poems originate: in the urgent, tender truth of what U.S. imperialism, militarism, and colonization have done to my country, my people, and the world’s imaginings of who Sāmoans (and Pacific Islanders) are. This poem speaks to the gap that I usually am standing between—who Sāmoans are and where we come from, and why people, especially those of us residing in the U.S., know virtually nothing about us (or any of the other U.S. territories), even though they should. For instance, during wildfire season in California, American Sāmoa sends their firefighters yearly to help offer relief. The poem ends with lyrics from a Sāmoan hymn that the firefighters were singing together in the California forest in the summer of 2017. Footage of it was captured and circulated by news outlets. I wonder how many people knew.”
—Terisa Siagatonu