In Solidarity with Haiti
i always turn to poetry to help me grasp with reality. this is a poem by Lenelle Moîse.
**
BECAUSE JOHN DOE IS NOT A HAITIAN NAME
d
a rotting smell
where the school once stood
a hungry shrill
where the guava tree grew
last night before the earth
ate port-au-prince
a bleeding orphan was
somebody’s baby
& that somebody
was pretty or plain
& that somebody
was saucy or shrinking
& that somebody
made love, made mistakes
& that somebody
ate mosquitoes, chewed cane
& léogâne
served the lwa, praised the lord
& jacmel
danced well, clapped instead
& carrefour
had a temper, had a gift
& that somebody atop
a mass grave
knew marie, dieudonne, tantee
knew yves-pierre, jean-jean, timarc
who will christen
those who named us
with intention?
a poet also
died
in the earthquake.
