Prayer
With you as my touchstone, I do not fear dissolution. And when it will come time to surrender, I will gladly fall into the translucence of the evening. I know you are there, roaming free in the cold dark air, bearable to no mortal…
A dress and a dream
“Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening.” Coco Chanel Last fall, I was walking the streets of Brooklyn, looking here and there, at this storefront and that, strolling aimlessly until I was […]
Who will be King?
Krik ? Krak !!! In Haiti, stories are introduced by the invitation to hear the tale. The person willing to tell the story shouts out: KRIK! If people want to hear the tale, and they nearly always do, they answer in chorus: KRAK!! So, “Mesye, dam, la sosyete, Krik? Krak!”, my name is Michèle and […]
‘The Thing’
There are things human eyes should not see, human ears should not hear. You do not witness certain things even second hand, even a month later with impunity. After visiting the downtown area, I felt feverish and laid down sick, two days after my return home. There was little left of the Port-au-Prince I knew, but rubble and broken buildings, still a few corpses in the streets, whole areas where Godzilla seems to have walked indiscriminately. Monster. Thing, which destroyed my city leaving the ghosts of more than two hundred thousand hidden among the smoke, the debris, the steel dust and sand.
don’t worry about me…
I finally reached her today. Since Tuesday, I had been praying and pressing the redial button on the phone. Redial had not worked, so I was hoping the prayers would. Amidst the desolation and news of relatives who had died and loved ones still unaccounted for, friends had sent a few messages saying they had […]
"Secrets d’une danseuse de tango…"
La comédienne, Michèle Voltaire Marcelin sur la scène du Théâtre Gesù à Montréal dans “Secrets d’une Danseuse de Tango” de Graciela Lopez, traduit par Jean-Marie Bourjolly. Michele Voltaire Marcelin onstage at the Gesù Theater in Montréal in her adaptation of Graciela Lopez’ text “Secrets of a Tango Dancer”, translated to French by Jean-Marie Bourjolly. […]
krik? krak!
I sat under the palm fronds, safely ensconced in the folds of Manzèlore’s wide skirt that smelled of ti-baume, of fey kowosol and other wild herbs; only a sliver of moon illuminated the sky. Corn crackled as it grilled on an open fire and Manzèlore, the kindest, most generous soul I have ever known, who […]
talisman
come have a drink he said. he was so much older. and good looking too. i was flattered. come have a drink. a drink was something a woman had. a woman wearing perfume, maybe femme by rochas. my mother wore that, even though my mother did not have drinks with men. not even with my […]
love declaration
In the gardens of my youth, trees were green and love was easy. Easy for me to feel, that is. That was before I realized others believed it was a war where all blows were allowed.
ars poetica
What to do before the suffering of others? What to do for Haiti, for Palestine, for Irak, for Darfur? What to do for girls forced into prostitution, for women battered, for rape victims, for those without the comfort of home or friends? Peruvian poet César Vallejo writes: “A cripple walks by, giving his arm to […]
Nightclub
by Billy Collins You are so beautiful and I am a fool to be in love with you is a theme that keeps coming up in songs and poems.There seems to be no room for variation. I have never heard anyone sing I am so beautiful and you are a fool to be in love […]
Tragédie tropicale
Ma mère est morte en couches. C’est un secret de famille, mais il a été mal gardé; il s’est ébruité, éventé. Oui; il est devenu du vent. Il s’est faufilé dans l’air, s’est s’éparpillé, a passé à travers la gaze des rideaux et fait voler comme des mouches, cet assemblage de mots bourdonnés d’oreille à […]
After his departure
What is her name? What can she possibly be thinking about? The first time I saw her, she was gracing the cover of an English translation of Zola’s Nana. She never seemed quite at home there. This was no courtesan, but a woman plunged deep in reminiscence after her lover has gone. Then I found […]
The woman in my bed….
I woke up with a French tune this morning: La femme qui est dans mon lit…The woman in my bed. Written by Moustaki for Edith Piaf when they were lovers, it is a song of praise for the older woman (she was nearly 20 years older than him). It brought back memories of one of […]
Un rebelle en Provence
Paul Cézanne – Aix-en-Provence 19 janvier 1839 – 22 octobre 1906 Le rebelle Aixois est d’aspect grossier et sauvage et de tempérament rustique et mélancolique . Longtemps je suis restée insensible à l’art de Cézanne. Ma reconnaissance de sa grandeur artistique était toute intellectuelle et n’engageait pas mes sens. A part ses pommes qu’il transformait […]
Prière
Une prière à ajouter au registre de l’espérance : Mon Dieu! Donnez-nous une passion! Qu’elle vienne de l’étrange ou de l’inconnu, qu’elle soit forte et belle, qu’elle fabrique du bonheur et de la folie, mais qu’elle soit là sur notre chemin, tant que nous avons l’énergie de défier les impossibles, d’imaginer le rêve et d’en […]
Compère Jacques Soleil
” Pour moi, tout est toujours neuf sur la planète; tout m’étonne, tout m’affecte ou me ravit. Chaque jour, j’ai l’impression de naître dans un univers inédit, et il me suffirait d’apprendre à ouvrir les yeux avec une conception moniste du monde pour arriver à envisager et saisir à la fois l’arbre et la forêt.” […]
Wandering Memory
” The past is never dead, it is not even past.” William Faulkner JJ Dominique’s latest book, Mémoire Errante (Wandering Memory), is dedicated to her father, Jean Dominique, theRadio Haiti journalist slain in Port-au-Prince in April 2000. Beyond the story of her relationship with a ‘charismatic, cantankerous but generous and brave man’ as she describes […]
In Memoriam
Kareem (à droite, en maillot gris et rouge) A la mémoire de Kareem Gaspard, lâchement assassiné à 16 ans, vendredi soir à Port-au-Prince. Ce texte m’est parvenu sans signature. Je ne sais qui l’a écrit. Mais je sais qu’au milieu des larmes, il devait être partagé. Que l’auteur me pardonne de le reproduire ici […]
The written word
To read is to marvel, to explore and meander through the universe of numerous alphabets, emotions, thoughts and intellect of writers: this eclectic group of people who immortalize what they think, believe, understand, and dream through a composition of words… To celebrate Haitian literature, the Association of Haitian Professionals regrouped 30 Haitian authors at […]
La poésie
La poésie n’est pas ou n’est plus dans les mots ; elle est dans l’acte d’entrer dans le tourbillon de ce qu’on ne maîtrise pas. Passion et poésie fusionnent de la montée vers les cimes à la chute dans les entrailles de la terre. Une prière à ajouter au registre de l’espérance : Mon Dieu […]
La négritude
“Ma bouche sera la bouche des malheurs qui n’ont point de bouche, ma voix, la liberté de celles qui s’affaissent au cachot du désespoir.” ” Je suis de la race de ceux qu’on opprime. Mon nom : offensé, mon prénom : humilié, mon état : révolté, mon âge : l’âge de pierre.” Et les chiens […]
Enivrez-vous
Il faut être toujours ivre. Tout est là: c’est l’unique question. Pour ne pas sentir l’horrible fardeau du Temps qui brise vos épaules et vous penche vers la terre, il faut vous enivrer sans trêve. Mais de quoi? De vin, de poésie, ou de vertu, à votre guise. Mais enivrez-vous. Et si quelquefois, sur les […]
Esclaves au Paradis
Nan mitan yon chan kann bò Igwey An Dominikani De Ayisyen chita nan w batey Pye atè do touni Youn ape pale Youn ap koute Yo pa fè bri Van nan kann lan sèlman ki tande Sa ya pe di ………………….. Kouzen Mwen sot fè tè Ayiti Gen yon komisyon madanm ou voye ba w […]
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.