sweet wine
i would drink
anything
offered from your palm
water would be sweeter
water would turn to wine
wine from your palm
your palm wine
your sweet milky wine
would be mine
i would drink
anything
that flowed from your palm
michele voltaire marcelin
*According to African folk tales, palm wine carried power to the first person to touch and drink it. Supposedly, women would evaporate into thin air because they weren’t capable of withstanding such power. So, for a long time, women were forbidden to drink the wine.
Photograph by D. Perry
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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) - translated into Spanish by Editorial ALBA as "Amores y cosas sin importancia" - all of which garnered rave reviews. Her writings are also featured in 3 anthologies published in France: "Cahier Haiti" (published by RAL'M-2009), "Terre de Femmes" (Editions Bruno Doucey-2011) "Revue Intranqu'îllités" (2012). 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 Masters from The New School for Social Research.
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