where the water lives
i call on no savior from the forgetful heart of the earth what could i save that the wind took from my hand this is where the water lives in the silence and the lies you can see it rise you can smell it rise you can feel it rise time threatened rain threatened and […]
life is split at the seams
no one knows the exact number of the dead not even the storm herself though her course is charted and images circle the earth of wind and rain that hurl and whirl swallowing everything in their path (they laid there like dolls one next to the other they laid there as if they had been […]
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 […]
Lettre à l’absent
aujourd’hui je suis vide de toi je ne pense pas à toi tu n’es pas en moi tu pourrais mourir demain demain tu pourrais mourir j’aurais au moins traduit mes paroles en désir et mon désir en paroles michèle voltaire marcelin Oeuvre du peintre flamand Vermeer “Femme en jaune” (1665) : saisie dans une « […]
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 […]
“Je t’aime à la (Franco) folie”
Un joli programme s’est profilé à Tamboril vendredi soir pour la première de Francopholie organisée par Francesca. La fête régnait grâce aux artistes d’ici et d’ailleurs, dans un tour du monde où diversité culturelle et vivacité rafraîchissante se mêlaient. Musiciens et poètes venus du Sénégal, du Mali, de la Guyane française, du Canada, de la […]
The Other Side of the Water
The Other Side of the Water – Lòt Bò Dlo – a Jeremy Robbins and Magali Damas film, follows the journey of DJARARA (a Brooklyn Rara band) through a labyrinth of vodou temples, underground economies, and violent politics from Haiti to New York City. Exploring the personal stories behind the music, this documentary-in-progress shows how […]
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 […]
Music is the weapon
Fela believed that music was the weapon of social fight for the future. Throughout a career that began with the London jazz scene and the uptown Nigerian Highlife music in the 1950’s, peaked with the revolutionary Afrobeat in the 1970’s, and inspired countless artists ever since, Fela lived out the war cry ‘Music is the […]
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
Maestro!
Le Maestro Michèle Voltaire Marcelin et Issa El Saieh ~ 1990 Un peu plus de trois ans que le Maestro est parti. Un peu plus de trois ans que je ne vais plus à l’Avenue du Chili. Ce passage désiré et obligé me manque. Et me manque aussi son affection à la fois nonchalante et […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
The Prince
In 1968, in the Malian capital of Bamako, a land of kingdoms, a 19-year-old boy descended from Malian princes defied the conventions of his noble ancestry to become a singer. This begins like a fairy tale, and like most princes in fairy tales, he received at birth both gifts and curses: an incomparable voice, […]
Summer fling
It was a June-blue sunday, a perfect summer-fling day; a music-filled day with poetry and song and friends and laughter; and our spirits were high and the energy was electrifying and it was summer, and we were starting it with a blast at our first Toukouleur Jazz & Poetry Brunch. Wish you had been there […]
Cruelle coquetterie
Pieds de Lotus d’Or! Image délicate et délicieuse, vision exquise et érotique Quand le pied devient fleur… Mes pieds ne sont pas des fleurs de lotus, ne sont pas des lys, pas des roses. Mes pieds ne sont pas des bijoux. Tous ceux qui m’aiment vous le diront: je suis une pieds-poudrés, une marcheuse invétérée; […]
Master of light
Gesner Armand, Master of light ~and the light within can be seen through the eyes~ Yesterday was June 11th. It would have been Gesner Armand’s 72nd birthday. One of Haiti’s finest impressionists, he was born in Croix-des-Bouquets. And if the place is not pretty, the name is, which evokes colorful bunches of flowers and suits […]
Mauvais sort
on a tous le poids d’un mot sur l’épaule l’ellipse d’une parole donnée verre cassé qui remonte à l’enfance des sources on porte tous des bleus brèches dévorantes de l’être habitées par le bruit d’une langue qui ne parle que dehors j’ai raté le train de phrase qui traverse mon déraillement phrase qui m’éclaire papillon […]
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.