ACKNOWLEDGMENTS for BOIS-CAIMAN-1791

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS for BOIS-CAIMAN-1791


by Fania Simon 

To the highest mysticism
To one Cup
One pig
One Circle
As we held our brothers’ hands
And our sisters’ too
And to the Victory
The cup is still with us
And to one knife,
One chief, one Loa... spirit
Appeared from Dahomey
Over to our mountainous Hispaniola
While we stood, taller than thou
And, to the cool wind
That blew humbly
Through all African’s souls in
Saint Domingue or Santo Domingo
...yes, that’s Haiti
But no one felt it...
For all flesh stayed motionless
As we multiplied....
It flew into one circle of divinity
All heads tied in white.
But to one alpha drum, one original blood, one vow,
One river, one massacre, one family, one sight
One tear, three spirits, two hands, one machete
One sugar cane field, full of battered bones
But he took just one pig,
One sip, one dream, and one dance
One wood, one master, one victory
One freedom...


© Fania Simon 2003