"Under the Veil": Two Poems from my Experiences in "Cheri Ayiti."

Lucas61

Lucas61

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Jun 13, 2014
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retired English teacher (30 years)
Ideas for poems in Krey?l have simmered in my mind for several years. These are poems from “under the veil.” The first is a poem of mood: the sensuality of food; the poignant stab of loss (the makout is a shoulder bag of bygone days); and a glimpse of the partaking of food as it has been done for millenia.

The second reveals an aspect of life that has been lost to modern civilization.

1.

M'vle:

Sonje:

Lakay bwa,
limy? antre krak yo.
Gen makout anndan –
Mama mouri.
Papa mouri.

Dey? gen twa woch.
yon fi, ak mouchwa,
l' ap kwit:

Diri ak pwa nwa,
b?twouj, mak aran,
boul chokola, kafe, toude!

Yon vye manje
ak men li, san fouchet,
tankou nan tan nan ansyen.

2.

M' vle:

Gade:

Lannwit. Zetwal kraze,
tankou v? oubyen
diaman opilan.

Kont yon sy?l nan obsidyen.
Isit la, nan yon ti vilaj ayisyen,
enkoni, san elektrisite.




we are in an English forum
 
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Lucas61

Lucas61

Well-known member
Jun 13, 2014
979
156
63
70
retired English teacher (30 years)
Africaida said:
Poems are only nice when you understand the words.
Click to expand...

1

I want:

to remember:

The wood house,
light enters through the cracks.

Inside are makout! [see note above]
Mother is dead.
Father is dead.

Outside are three rocks.
A woman, with headrap,
is cooking:

Rice with black beans,
red beets, a portion of herring,
hot chocolate and coffee--both!

An old woman eats with her hands,
without fork, as in the ancient times.


2.

I want:

to see:

Night. Stars broken
like glass or opulent diamonds,
against a sky of obsidian.

Here, in a small Haitian village,
unknown, without electricity.

 
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