life is split at the seams
no one knows the exact number of the dead
not even the storm herself
though her course is charted
and images circle the earth
of wind and rain that hurl and whirl
swallowing everything in their path
(they laid there like dolls
one next to the other they laid there
as if they had been toys discarded in the mud)
how are we not drowned in shame
as they were drowned in mud
how are we not flooded by tears
as they were by the rains
(they were ours
they were yours and mine
yet we let them die)
so i will write a poem
and you will write a letter
and he will send some money
and she will say a prayer
but we will forget as we have forgotten before
we closed our eyes
covered ourselves up
when this island without secrets
this island caught upside down
spread open by the great storm
went belly up
exposing memories and guts
nothing has happened here
it was already nothing
disaster on disaster
mud on mud
(will the drowned ever forgive us
or will they spit back their water at us?)
nothing has happened here
it was already nothing
disaster on disaster
mud on mud
life is split at the seams
michèle voltaire marcelin
Archives
Subscribe to Lidous via Email
jmc strategies
- Primer on the Anti-Immigrant Forces Determined to Hijack American Politics
- Immigration: Waiting for Godot Need Not Be Policy
- Baby Doc is Dead, Duvalierism Lives On
- Human Rights in Haiti in the Manigat Era
- Dealing With Statelessness in the Dominican Republic
- Haiti: It Started with a Bang…
- The Duvalier Case: What Is at Stake at the Court of Appeals
- Another day of reckoning for Jean Claude Duvalier?
- Will Duvalier’s Victims Have Their Day in Court?
- Will Duvalier Regain Access to Illicit Funds Pilfered from the Haitian Treasury?
Michèle Voltaire Marcelin is a poet/writer, performer and painter who was born and raised in Haiti, sojourned in Chile, and currently lives in the United States. The publication of her first novel “La Désenchantée” (CIDIHCA, Montréal-2006) was followed by its Spanish translation “La Desencantada” and two other books of poetry and prose: “Lost and Found” and “Amours et Bagatelles” (CIDIHCA, Montréal-2009) - translated into Spanish by Editorial ALBA as "Amores y cosas sin importancia" - all of which garnered rave reviews. Her writings are also featured in 3 anthologies published in France: "Cahier Haiti" (published by RAL'M-2009), "Terre de Femmes" (Editions Bruno Doucey-2011) "Revue Intranqu'îllités" (2012). She speaks and writes fluently French, English, Spanish and Haitian Creole. She has a BFA from the Leonard Davis Center for the Performing Arts at CUNY and a Masters from The New School for Social Research.
Leave a Comment