by Billy Easton
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| The UN General Assembly has voted to replace the traditional world map with one that more accurately reflects the size of Africa… The US was the only nation to vote against it—while there were six abstentions. —BBC, September 5, 2026 |
My teacher would pull down the whole world—
a big map at the front of the room.
Greenland, at the top, jumped out
as big as Africa.
But it’s not. 14 Greenlands fit inside Africa.
So now, one hundred sixty-four of the United Nations voted
to set the lines right.
Only one voted NO.
Because, they said, changing the map
was superfluous, cognitive justice,
they want to focus on genuine problems,
take the Gulf of Mexico or Lake Ontario.
Take Greenland. Take it.
That one country of NO stood to lose 45 percent of their landmass—
on paper. And Greenland, no longer so huge,
the size of a single African nation—not as desirable
for groping hands, engorged ego.
So much surface ceded to Africa—in pen and ink.
No reparations checks, just a reality check.
Imaginations, cognitions unchecked.
Just lines on a page.
Just lines.
Just.
