Without drowning
The weight of a man on a woman is like falling into the river without drowning. Above, the world is burning and fighting. Lost worlds flow through others. But down here beneath water’s skin, river floor, sand, everything is floating, rocking. Water falls through our hands as we fall through it. And when a woman […]
A dress of fire
But the dress, she said, the dress is on fire.
What are you saying, I shouted,
what are you saying?
I’m not wearing a dress at all,
what’s burning is me.
Lost and Found
” Lost and Found “ is the book of love. A CD of 25 poems chosen among the 74 in the collection is included with the text . There is an intimist tone to these poems and one can feel the poet giving herself entire to her devotion toward love. Contrary to the tone of […]
love is blind
does he love you you asked does he love you like i love you does he does he you are so beautiful and sad does he wrap himself in your skin looking for the missing perfume of wild roses falling apart in the wind does he lose himself in the jungle of your hair say […]
adieu
for a moment this was real for a moment i believed it but happiness long expected long delayed no longer seems probable even if it leaves me inconsolable shall we put this dream to sleep but before you turn away and walk out into the evening with your body and its dangers your scar, your […]
rue des miracles
he’d come in the afternoon she always left the door open was that a metaphor with poets you never know she ‘d be in the kitchen cooking through their stomach love comes she liked to see him eat and barefeet too what did that mean was that another metaphor she’d tell him i’m on fire […]
the edge of the world
twice i kissed my life away twice saw ghosts at the edge of the world where half-woman half-fish i drowned my million nights alone in deep sea sounds and reckless waters that opened wide and forever slipping into me wave after wave after wave an infinity of salt was it your voice brought me […]
bonjour tendresse
come it is night i’ve put ribbons in my hair for you to unravel there is wine to drink until we drink our eyes there are mussels and cockles to suck and eat until we lick each other’s salt you bless me with nights of love and sleep and when day claims my eyes you […]
lettre d’amour
darling, the letter said i will conceal nothing i am wild about you can’t you understand i’m on fire missing you last night i was in some dark alleyway in my dream suddenly it overflowed with light when you appeared and i woke up saying your name darling, there’s a fire under the moon […]
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 […]
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 […]
L’amour fou…
à toi, absolument. "Et je chantais cette romance En 1903 sans savoir Que mon amour à la semblance Du beau Phénix s’il meurt un soir Le matin voit sa renaissance." Apollinaire Un homme m’attend sur le seuil de sa maison, une arme à ses côtés. Un homme seul, assis à l’ombre et que je vois […]
a valentine tale
he had loved this woman. had loved her tenderness, her passion. the wildness of her hair only matched by the wildness of her words. there had been no limits, no boundaries. he had abandoned himself completely to her. they would suck each other’s toes and nipples, would photograph each other, watching the pictures as they […]
Le Temps des Amours…
Un Amour de Swann est possiblement le plus parfait de tous les volumes de Proust. Mon préféré. Celui vers lequel je reviens toujours. Peut-être par le souvenir, le choc ressenti au moment où j’ai compris d’un coup l’amour naissant non de son exaucement, mais de sa non-réalisation… " On n’aime que ce qui nous fait […]
The Alchemy of Desire
Love is not the greatest glue between two people. Sex is. Tarun J. Tejpal I would travel up and down her body, inhaling, inhaling, inhaling, hunting her secret source…. The room was dark and my mouth was everywhere and the white cotton she was wearing was crisp and thin and I was firm and insanely […]
Gouverneurs de la Rosée
Pour séduire la belle « Sor Mélie », Antoine lui fait la déclaration suivante: Je commence dans mon « français-français» : « Mademoiselle, depuis que je vous ai vue, sous la galérie du presbytè, j’ai un transpô d’amou pou toi. J’ai déjà coupé gaules, poteaux et paille pou bâtir cette maison de vous. Le jou […]
bèl lanmou
lanmou-w libere kò mwen lang ou deklete bouch mwen m’ta fè tout sa m’pat janm fè m’ta di tout sa’m pat ka di pawòl lamarye pawòl bouzen kafe pawòl jekwazandye ak jekireve ou fè’m di sa moun bliye lè lanmou pèdi pawòl lanmou-w libere kò mwen lang ou deklete bouch mwen m’ta di tout sa […]
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.