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 […]
lights-out
promising light my desire rose eager and unbounded incandescent like a naked bulb but you pulled the string and turned it off (it hurts your eyes you said) but on the inside the light is still burning michèle voltaire marcelin
beloved
i spent last night burning all your letters and watched all your forevers go up in smoke but the blue candles you had gifted me beloved sweetheart bastard i’ve kept them both since in your absence the sky is empty of stars i will light them to remember your eyes michèle voltaire marcelin
a lying shame
She fancied him and things were free Sweet talking and sweet nothing But as the freedom was threatening he needed reasons beyond So they talked of stars and moons and planet configurations to explain their instant connection In heels she swayed where sweet music played and danced her heart away He spoke of love and […]
Pleasure
I was oh, perhaps 9? the very first time I heard the word Fuck. Emmanuel, the school hunk, had cornered Caterina by the back stairs of Union School and said I want to fuck you. Fuck… Fuck… Fuck. I didn’t know what it meant but the intensity with which it was said stirred something in […]
i know the tune
i could not wait for you all day i could not wait i bathed in holy water saying your name wearing jewels for you perfume inside my thighs i could not i could not wait for you there were wildflowers in my eyes a sexual haze of butterflies even before you came did you know […]
Let me explain a few things…
Pablo Neruda is “the greatest poet of the twentieth century–in any language.” said Gabriel García Márquez Pablo and Gabo Explico algunas cosas (Let me Explain a Few Things), a poem written in fiery rage against what Franco’s troops had done to Madrid “And one morning, everything was burning” , is where Neruda traced his own […]
last wishes
once more our wasted prayers over a crowd of corpses once more our whispers of affliction while we hope once more for rain this time to wash the blood from our hands you do not know you do not know the sadness seizing at my throat the sorrows i’ve memorized this life i hope it […]
Bearing witness
“No foreign sky protected me No stranger’s wing shielded my face I stand as witness to the common lot Survivor of that time, that place” Requiem Anna Akhmatova “I have a lot of work to do today I need to slaughter memory Turn my living soul to stone Then teach myself to live again. . […]
plain talk
i have carried you everywhere you are there on the tip of my tongue i speak and in the word you appear and flow through my mouth so many words you say for a question so simple so much wine for little thirst don’t be misled by the laughter hope surpasses the question although i […]
Bourgeoisie?
“I need my memories. They are my documents.” I want to be like Louise Bourgeois when I grow up. At 96 years old and still working, bruised, battle-scarred Bourgeois is at once fragile and strong like the materials she uses to work: soft latex, fabrics, glass, wood, marble and metal. Provocative, emotionally intense, and very, […]
pleasure and pain
pleasure and pain keep company in our bed sharing covers until one day one will surrender to the dominion of the other (i wanted to live to love you to lose myself and did not care summer might end in sorrow so i invented poems and i invented lifelines against the chaos of your going […]
wild wind
rain dampens the earth when pleasure comes a sudden storm i tremble in the wild wind under an avalanche of leaves thrown in darkness without a voice only animal cries and open-mouthed kisses to silence words and share the blood-red sadness from your glass you leave i undress remove the name you blessed me with […]
ceremonies
promises are shattered glass and spilled wine i have no lust for such sorrows but for memories sweet as rain in my mouth water may dissolve tears and desire i doubt i shall ever forget you at my door me in your arms then in the air my name like a floating bird michèle voltaire […]
chastity belt
give me leave to be sentimental without censure and you may stay in your tower if you please but meeting you was an unexpected grace a serendipitous pleasure you quickened my heartbeat filled my body with stars freed my words from their prison yes there were too many buttons on your shirt and i fumbled […]
august evening
sitting on a stoop amidst idle chatter and cigarette smoke waiting for you as i waited months before i know my heart will flutter when you pass by and say my name in the august evening breeze michèle voltaire marcelin
and then you came
and then you came before the sky was sky and o my lawless heart forgot all save your name and then you came before the night was night and i all breathlessness surrendered to your mouth and then you came before the dark was dark and i so naked in your arms sent sentries to […]
le bonheur
saisie par le bonheur tu es si belle que tous les yeux du ciel te suivent au passage michèle voltaire marcelin
je meurs de soif au bord de la fontaine…
Fontaine des Quatre-Dauphins, Quartier Mazarin-Aix au coeur d’une place tranquille sous l’ombrage d’un figuier je tue le temps en oraisons et mêle les notes de ton prénom à la chanson d’une fontaine ô amour de belle saison qui dans un autre continent un autre pays une autre ville loin de ma ligne d’horizon met pêle-mêle […]
m’anvi
pandan mwen kanpe la a m’anvi di w tout istwa m m’anvi sèmante m’anvi sèman m rive jouk kote w rete m’anvi tonè kraze m m’anvi soley boule m m’anvi pye bwa sekwe m’anvi syèl la tranble m’anvi tout zwazo fou m’anvi limen balen m’anvi limen bouji m’anvi met a jenou pou m lapriyè pou […]
dayiva
return often to dance with me bodies don’t lie and though i travel light i will carry your skin and your kisses return often and take me in the mirror where your body echoes mine your body my salt mine, my ocean where i dive unprotected tossed by your waves who knows what treasures i […]
lust
summer will be gone when i return let what we keep or throw away pass from my hand to yours lust is a hard red plum which will ripen next season i’ve bitten enough to slake the thirst of my journey and desire the juiciness to come i trust my lust if dreams are wishes […]
desire
naked and restless here in this room desiring you i am like drunk on wine with your coming the first time i fed you cut peaches your lips were red with wine and all the time you were talking i was thinking of kissing you wondering when and how your eyes guarded behind a […]
until one day, love
So I slept with my lovers, I slept with my friends, my lovers’ friends and my friends’ lovers, friends of friends and so on. I slept with my dealer and my dealer’s dealer, just to be sure. I slept with some men I barely knew to prove I was open minded, or to avoid an […]
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.