—translated, from the Haitian Creole, by Danielle Legros Georges
Me, you, she, they
When I say me, it’s her
When I say him, it’s you
They are me, are him, are you
We are ourselves ourselves
All grown old and ugly
All as guilty as innocent
Carrying one country in our arms
Like one sick child.
Félix Morisseau-Leroy (1912—1998) was a prolific Haitian writer, educator, activist, and champion of the Haitian Creole language. Morisseau-Leroy is deeply admired and celebrated in the Haitian diaspora, Haiti, and elsewhere for the significant and courageous role he played in the promotion and recognition of Haitian Creole as a language of instruction and of literature. He was among the first important Haitian writers to write serious literary texts in Haitian Creole, which reflected and celebrated Haitian Creole cultural identity and concerns. Often referred to as the father of Haitian Creole literature, his literary influence can be seen in the existence of Creole-language texts written by contemporaries and a younger generation of Haitian writers.
Danielle Legros Georges is an Associate Professor in the Creative Arts in Learning Division of Lesley University; and a visiting faculty member of the William Joiner Center for the Study of War and Social Consequences, University of Massachusetts—Boston. She is the author of a book of poems Maroon (Curbstone Press, 2001). Recent poems, essays, and reviews have appeared in The Bill Moyers Journal (PBS Program), The Caribbean Writer’s Special Issue on Haiti, Consequence, and The Women’s Review of Books. She lives in Boston, and enjoys hiking in the nearby Blue Hills.
