Languages

Goudougoudougoudougoudou . . .   When the malicious brouhaha finally dozed off at dusk’s feet when in the magic of darkness ribbons of promise turned into sadness with desperation deep in our eyes we held our hands out to dust a drizzle of confetti like fine salt  above our heads   Claws of desolation planted in each neighborhood’s entrails from one alley to the next   God have mercy on the town of Jacmel muted words in deaf...

We held our breath close to our bodies sorted words in a straitjacket our lives between parentheses turpentine to make hope last fear sets up a tent on our chest fog invades our minds paralyzes our limbs    Day holds night’s hand evenings play merry-go-round with mornings the days turn in circles  until they feel dizzy we forget all debts, all promises projects overflow like water springs the earth sips in with a straw   Clocks...

drip drop port-au-prince’s life slips away drip drop like a canoe ocean waves thrust within the sun’s flames port-au-prince disintegrates drip drop like a bad rain drip drop that refuses to fall even when promised cookies it teases gardens so grownups can complain teases gutters so children can’t bathe one by one port-au-prince counts its dead like a pack of zombies on some big don’s land one by one adds up to a bunch goudougoudou a...