Haiti 1915- Haiti 2015

for a  hundred years

we have paid dearly

for loving our freedom

as much as we loved our gods

 Here was the official story:

When the United States of America invaded Haiti in 1915, it was to protect human rights and restore democracy...

 "You say democracy and it's the occupation of Haiti

You say democracy

and it’s America to the Yankee

It’s the rape of my country

the Caco's blood

and Péralte’s crucifixion

You say democracy

and it’s the plunder of our wealth

from west to east and north to south

You say democracy and spread the slaughter everywhere

and everywhere you leave ruin

You say democracy..." (Paul Laraque)

 1915-2015

and misery left and right

bitter as bile, heavy as chains of curses

misery and chanting spread over the shoulders of my country

misery,  filthy misery spread like dirt and mud

 detestable in my mouth like bitter coffee

stale bread, rotten avocados and mangoes full of worms...

 "They say

human blood

enriches the soil

If it were so

if it were so

my friends

rice, millet and corn

would be plenty

in Haiti." (Suze Baron)

  Haiti 1915...

 And a man came who stood up and said NO

A man who multiplied himself  by 5000

Who stood in the villages, in the cities, in the fields, on the hills

who said we'll fight and one day we'll know this time is gone

and another is going to begin...

"Let's us stand in respect for Charlemagne Péralte

 who confronted the american presence and sacrificed himself for our nation

Dead at thirty three , betrayed like Christ,  exposed naked under his flag and crucified; because one day he had dared to promise it to us,

the flag of this land." - (Christian Werleigh)

 This promised land....

Were we worthy of it?

 "No

we were not worthy of this land 

I swear on my life and on yours 

Were we to beg forgiveness 

on our knees seventy seven times seventeen times 

from Our Lady of Perpetual Mercy 

History would not absolve us 

nor she 

We bleat like goats 

tethered to this land 

where men can be bought for a song 

women for a trifle 

and children long abandoned 

surrender their souls 

The years of our lives have passed 

listening to the ticking of time 

dividing days into hours 

clinging to dreams 

diviners cannot decipher 

We drink, make love and eat 

surrounded by excrement 

its stench sticky green phlegm in our throat 

We speak but our words carry no weight 

Honor is obliterated and truth absent 

The future aborted and the past streams continuous 

like sewage flowing in the gutter 

What blunders 

What waste 

What senseless losses 

I could say more but why 

You know the ending 

And a poem is only words 

Let the fire consume us 

Erase the slate after we’ve gone 

But  do not absolve us 

Do not forgive us our sins 

For we knew exactly what we were doing 

We should not be remembered any more than a dead dog 

We are like rotten teeth 

falling 

falling 

falling - (Michèle Voltaire Marcelin)

Haiti 1915-Haiti 2015

One hundred years and as many seasons of sadness

O my country, O my land