JIM JOHNSTONE
Language as Territory This is sharp, compressed, and politically loaded in only a few lines. It feels almost aphoristic — like something between poetry and critique. those who inherited the earth decided they’d inherited idiom. The Weight of “Idiom” The poem pivots on the word idiom . An idiom is not just language, but the accepted way of speaking, framing reality, defining what sounds “natural,” “civilized,” “correct,” or “true.” So the poem suggests that power does not stop at material inheritance — land, institutions, wealth, nationhood — but extends into control over meaning itself. Whoever “inherits the earth” also assumes authority over language. The brilliance is in the word “decided.” It implies this authority is not natural. It is asserted. Claimed. Imposed. Dominance & Discourse The poem therefore becomes about the relationship between dominance and discourse: colonial powers imposing their language, ruling classes defining “proper speech,” institutions determining legit...