a sixteen-year-old girl
(AP Photo/Alexandre Meneghini)
This girl, I can see her; I see her frail silhouette leaning against one of the columns of the Grand-Rue – the indelible image of solitude and distress.
By Haitian poet Rudoph Muller, a poem that trembles with human presence:
A 16-year-old girl
who’s standing
on the corner of Grand and Miracle Streets
at 11 in the evening
in a tired little dress
A 16-year-old girl
who’s standing like an i
under an arcade
She’s not waiting for a bus
She’s not waiting for anyone
It’s just that at her house
her hungry mother
is about to die
She’d rather be standing there
at 11 in the evening
in the cold
under the Grand Street
arcade.
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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.
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