sweet death
let it be my death in a garden behind my house
between animal and flower
and the murmur of water
let it be in a luminous afternoon
with bamboos swaying in the breeze
let it be with the sun’s last ray
the wind’s last breath be mine as well
your name the last upon my mouth
heralded by birdsong
death be like a butterfly whose wings i fly on
on a day that tastes of everlasting summer
ripe sugary papaya
acid green guava setting my teeth on edge
as oleanders blooming powdery pink
relinquish the spice of their fragrance
in the rain
o my heart’s joy
let it be as i hold your hand
walking through the fragile foliage
the slender trees
whispering the sweet memory of your name
let it be that i surrender willingly to the wind and the light and the sun
that i disappear in the splendor of the sky
michèle voltaire marcelin
march 1, 2010
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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), both of which garnered rave reviews.
Her writings are also featured in a 500 page anthology of Haitian Literature by RAL’M, the French Revue d’Art, Littérature et Musique (2009). 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 MS from The New School for Social Research.