*Photo by* *Marcelo Leal* *on Unsplash.*

Poetry by Louis-Philippe Dalembert

Translated from the Haitian Creole by Nadève Ménard

Definitions

goudougoudou: Another name for the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. The word mimics the sound the earth made as it shook.
rara: A type of music that is sung in Haitian Creole and performed in the street during gatherings and festivals.
rabòday: Electronic dance music inspired by rara music and traditional drum rhythms.
bel-air: A neighborhood in Port-au-Prince that received the most damage during the earthquake.
delma: A neighborhood just outside of Port-au-Prince that was damaged by the earthquake (also spelled Delmas).
guinea hen ravine: The Ravin Pentad (or guinea hen ravine in English) neighborhood in Haiti, which was particularly damaged during the earthquake.

First published in English in the January 2013 issue/collection of Words Without Borders: Writing from Haiti.

for Port-au-Prince on an IV Drip
https://wwb-campus.org/literature/port-au-prince-on-an-iv-drip

Louis-Philippe Dalembert

Born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, in 1962, Louis-Philippe Dalembert is among the most important Haitian writers of his generation. He is a poet, novelist, short story writer, and essayist. His works, praised by critics in France and abroad, have also been translated into several languages.

image:

By G.Garitan, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Nadève Ménard (translator)

Nadève Ménard is professor of literature at the École Normale Supérieure of Université d’État d’Haïti. She has contributed to several journals and collective book projects including International Journal of Francophone Studies, Edwidge Danticat: A Reader’s Guide, Haiti Rising: Haitian History, Culture and the Earthquake of 2010, and Dictionnaire littéraire d’écrivains francophones classiques. Her first edited book, Écrits d’Haïti: perspectives sur la littérature haïtienne contemporaine (1986–2006) was published by Karthala in 2011. With Régine Michelle Jean-Charles, Nadève Ménard recently launched Tande, a trilingual blog on Haitian culture and literature. She is also currently working on an earthquake preparedness guide for children with several members of her family.

pòtoprens nan sewòm

titak pa titak
lavi pòtoprens prale
titak pa titak
pòtre koralen
vag lanmè makònnen
nan mitan flanm sole

pòtoprens degrennen
titak pa titak
tankou move lapli
titak pa titak
ki refize tonbe
menm si yo ba l bonbon
fè jaden filalang
pou granmoun ka plenyien
fè goutyè filalang
pou timoun pa benyien

grenn pa grenn
pòtoprens konte mò
pòtre makòn zonbi
sou bitasyon grandon

grenn pa grenn
fè yon bann
goudougoudou
yon bann moun pran lari
pa gen bann ni rara
goudougoudou
yon bann moun pran danse
oun dennyè kout tanbou
oun rabòday fyèl bèf
pak pitak pitak
pak pitak pitak
pak pitak pitak
pak

grenn pa grenn
se pa youn
grenn pa grenn
se yon dal
yon dal kò
anba dal
fè kè tout latè grenn
de pye bwatchèn nan chenn
chemen dèdal anba dal
dal beton kòlòwòch
dal beton koule rèd
pi rèd pase dlo chèch
nan je vil pòtoprens

titak pa titak
lavi pòtoprens prale
titak pa titak
figi l kole pyese
bade mak sifilis
pòtre nanm jenn gason
chagren damou fennen
cheri si n te renmen
ala bèl nou ta bèl

nou ta bèl tout koulè
ta fleri kou bèlè
lò sezon posesyon
kou kandelam dèlma
zanmann ak kayimit
nan memwa san kanson
nou ta tire lobe
nan dlo ravin pentad
vlope ak zèl lavyon
fè laviwondede

titak pa titak
lavi ti nèg prale
si nou te konn konte
nou ta gen tan byen lwen
cheri mwen pa ta lwen
nou ta gen milyon ven
men lavi jeretyen
paske n pa konn konte

titak pa titak
lavi pòtoprens prale
titak pa titak
se pa dat n ap woule
se pa dat n ap debat
se pa dat nou dèwò
ap dòmi anba pay
ap dòmi san soupe
pou n jwenn peny lasirèn
men se atò nou lèd
lannuyit lan lou
pas on sak sèl

cheri vin nou damou
pou nou bèl tout koulè
pou m renmen w tankou yè
takou bouzen sou ray
bonda w te mèt fobop
m a fèmen je m reve
epi m a wè w pi bèl
n a gouye san rete
epi wa va leve
epi wa vin pi bèl
pase larèn solèy

titak pa titak
titak pa titak
titak pa titak
titak pa titak
titak pa titak
titak pa titak

Links available online only

Meet Louis-Philippe Dalembert

By G.Garitan, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

“Like many Haitian writers, I entered literature through poetry.” How did Louis-Philippe Dalembert become a writer? What does he like to read? Find out in an interview with Rose City Reader.

Or, listen to a podcast from Literary Hub where Dalembert discusses the role of migration in his writing and in his own life.

Speak French? Watch Dalembert discuss the effects of the earthquake in Haiti in a 2010 news clip.

Meet Translator Nadève Ménard

I wonder if you will ever question my decision to stay here after the earthquake. When you see the footage of hundreds of people fleeing by the planeload, will you wonder why we were not among them? Or will you understand by then what it means to love a country like a person?

Read translator Nadève Ménard’s thoughts on the earthquake, written in the form of a letter to her young daughter, on JSTOR.

Then, listen to Ménard reflect on the letter more than ten years later on the Nèg Mawon podcast (discussion begins at 36:15).

A Scholar's Notes

Read what Évelyne Trouillot (translated by Paul Curtis Daw) says about Creole writing in the Caribbean introduction:

In each of these islands, in various ways and at differing momentums, writers and poets took the language that had been imposed on them and shaped and molded it to suit their own needs. Creole, a language born mainly from the confluence of African and European languages, has not developed at the same pace and with the same consistency throughout the region. Its literary use, official recognition, and internal status vary from island to island. Particularly in Haiti, the profusion of poems and plays in Creole reflect its social and literary evolution despite the persistence of prejudice. . . . Whether it is in Jamaica, Cuba, Haiti, Guadeloupe, or the islands off the Colombian coast, to name only a few places, Creole-language writing reflects a desire to control the language of the colonizer, a recovery springing from a search for identity and self-affirmation.

Haiti’s 2010 Earthquake

Petty Officer 2nd Class Candice Villarreal, USN, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

In 2010, a devastating earthquake rocked Haiti, killing more than 250,000 people and causing massive destruction. Many Haitians, like Dalembert in this poem, refer to the earthquake as “goudougoudou”—an onomatopoeic word that describes the sound of the earth shaking.

Read coverage of the earthquake in the Guardian.

Then, listen to an audio exhibit that recreates some of the sounds survivors heard during the earthquake, from Duke University.

Just after the quake, many people in Haiti took to Twitter to spread the news. Read some of those tweets, also in the Guardian.

Then, read “The World is Moving Around Me,” Haitian author Dany Laferrière’s account of the earthquake, on WWB Campus. Next, see photos and read a reflection from Ivanoh Demers, the photographer mentioned in Laferrière’s essay, on Radio-Canada.

To find out what happened in the aftermath of the earthquake, see “Haiti After the Earthquakes” in the Playlist tab.

Listen to Rara and Rabòday

Wondering what rara music sounds like? Watch a performance on YouTube.

You can hear more rara on the Smithsonian Folkways site (tracks 101–107).

Then, listen to a rabòday song; this newer genre draws inspiration from traditional rara music.

Learn Some Haitian Creole

Watch these videos to learn more about the Haitian Creole language, its relationship to French, and the role of both languages in Haitian society:

Learn the history of Haitian Creole and learn some vocabulary and grammar in “Haitian Creole–The World’s Most Widely Spoken Creole Language”
Hear what Haitian speakers have to say about the language in a PBS documentary: “Haitian Voices: Haitian Creole”
Looking for a challenge? Advanced high school and college students can watch a short video of philosopher Paulo Freire: “On Language and Power”

While French is still frequently used in Haitian journalism, schools, businesses, and government, there have been efforts to recognize Haitian Creole in more areas of Haitian society. Take a look at the 2011 Charter on Language Policy and Language Rights in the Creole-Speaking Caribbean. Article 3 on page 6 sums up the “inalienable personal rights” of Creole speakers.

Background on Haiti

Free to use under the Unsplash License.

New to learning about Haiti? Check out a profile and timeline of the country’s history from the BBC.

Then, learn about Haiti’s history as the “first nation to permanently ban slavery” in the Washington Post.

After the Haitian revolution, France forced Haiti to pay millions of francs in reparations. Learn more about the “greatest heist in history,” and how it affects Haiti’s current financial situation, on NPR.

The US did something similar in the 20th century; read an article about the United States’ occupation of Haiti from 1915–1934 in the Washington Post.

Looking for a challenge? Advanced students can read “The King of Haiti’s Dream,” an essay about the political aftermath of the Haitian Revolution, in Aeon. Or, watch a video about Henry Cristophe by the same author from TED-Ed.

Links available online only

More from Translator Nadève Ménard

Read what Nadève Ménard has to say about the Haitian literary community after the earthquake in an essay for Words Without Borders:

All aspects of Haitian life were greatly affected by the January 12, 2010, disaster. Yet, even as the people suffered and grieved, Haitians also struggled to reassert themselves almost immediately after the quake, including the literary community. Haitian authors participated in festivals and fairs, both locally and abroad. Libraries and bookstores were repaired, rebuilt, reopened. Books continued to be published, and more importantly, to be bought, borrowed, and read.

For more of Ménard’s writing, check out her former blog Tande, which she wrote in English, French, and Haitian Creole.

Ménard also coedited the anthology The Haitian Reader, which features writing from WWB Campus authors Lyonel Trouillot and Dany Laferrière.

Dalembert’s Favorite Haitian Poets

By Etienne Rouziès, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Read poetry from Louis-Philippe Dalembert’s poetic influences:

“Mère Caraïbe/Caribbean Mother,” by René Depestre (published bilingually and translated by Anita Sagástegui)
“Carib Father,” by Anthony Phelps, translated by Carrol F. Coates (original French)
“Psom/Psaume,” by René Philoctète (available in Haitian Creole and French)

The Haitian Pintade

See a contemporary painting of revolutionary leader Toussaint Louverture, which imagines him wearing a guinea hen, or “pintade,” as a hat.

This video from the National Portrait Gallery explains the pintade’s role as a symbol of resistance.

Haiti after the Earthquakes

Master Sgt. Jeremy Lock, USAF, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

“The country still suffers from its aftershocks.” Read what Haitian author Kettly Mars had to say about the 2010 earthquake and its aftermath twelve years later, in an interview with translator Nathan H. Dize for Words Without Borders.

What happened to the “millions of aid dollars [that] flooded the country'' that Mars mentioned in her interview? Find out in the documentary Fatal Assistance by Haitian filmmaker Raoul Peck.

More Sound Writing*

On WWB Campus:

“Poem for Children with Trouble Sleeping”: Also from post-earthquake Haiti, this poem reflects the influence of lullabies and rap, and also includes some onomatopoeia
“There is No Theorem (A Regguetón)”: This Cuban poem takes on the meaning of life with powerful rhymes and rhythms across two languages
“Sleepless Homeland”: This poem about the impact of Mexico’s drug wars was written as the author hate-listened to narco-corridos

Elsewhere:

“Jabberwocky”: A Lewis Carroll poem incorporating invented words and powerful sounds
All Quiet on the Western Front: A war novel by Erich Maria Remarque (translated by Brian Murdoch) that captures the sound of battle

*For Teaching Idea 1

More Unexpected Imagery*

Detail from a Korean illustration of the Ten Judgments of Hell, Gallery of Greater Victoria. Photo by Joe Mabel, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

On WWB Campus:

“Earning My Keep”: A Korean poem in which hell is a metaphor for work
“Notes on a Zombie Cataclysm”: A dance music–influenced Mexican poem that, like this one, uses the living dead as a metaphor
“The Fish”: A Persian love poem with an unusual metaphor for a person in love

Elsewhere:

“'Hope' is the thing with feathers,” by Emily Dickinson
“Cloud in Trousers” by the Russian poet Vladimir Mayakovsky
“I Am a Cowboy in the Boat of Ra” by Ishmael Reed, which brings together references to ancient Egyptian religion and the American West

*For Teaching Idea 2

Reading Grade Level(s): 5, 6 and up

Key Points
1. Sounds of Disaster
2. Unexpected Similes and Metaphors

To access these Teaching Ideas, please register or login to WWB-Campus.

Port-au-Prince on an IV Drip

drip drop
port-au-prince’s life slips away
drip drop
like a canoe
ocean waves thrust
within the sun’s flames

port-au-prince disintegrates
drip drop
like a bad rain
drip drop
that refuses to fall
even when promised cookies
it teases gardens
so grownups can complain
teases gutters
so children can’t bathe

one by one
port-au-prince counts its dead
like a pack of zombies
on some big don’s land

one by one
adds up to a bunch
goudougoudou
a bunch of people take to the streets
there is no band, no rara either
goudougoudou
a bunch of people start dancing
one last drumbeat
a killer rabòday
pak pitak pitak
pak pitak pitak
pak pitak pitak
pak

one by one
is not one
one by one
is a lot
a lot of bodies
under concrete
hearts around the world ache
two oak trees’ feet bound by chains
flagstone road buried under tons of stone
slabs of rough concrete
hard flowing slabs of concrete
harder than dried tears
in the eyes of port-au-prince city

drip drop
port-au-prince’s life slips away
drip drop
its face worn and torn
pockmarks from syphilis
like a young man’s soul
bruised by heartbreak
honey if we were together
we would look so good

we would look good in all colors
would blossom like bel-air
during Lenten processions
like candelabra in delmas
almonds and star apples
in prepubescent memories
we would splash around
in the waters of guinea hen ravine
wrap ourselves in airplane wings
play ring around the rosy

drip drop
everyman’s life slips away
if we knew how to count
we’d already be far
honey, I wouldn’t be far
we’d have a million twenty
but life carried a one
because we don’t know how to count

drip drop
port-au-prince’s life slips away
drip drop
we’ve been rolling forever
we’ve been struggling forever
we’ve been outside forever
sleeping under hay
sleeping with no supper
to find the mermaid’s comb
but we are still so ugly
the night is heavier
than a bag of salt

honey, come let’s be in love
so we can be beautiful in every color
so i can love you like yesterday
like a hooker by the train tracks

your ass might sag
i’ll close my eyes and dream
and i’ll see you prettier
we’ll grind endlessly
and you will rise
and you’ll become prettier
than any sun goddess

drip drop
drip drop
drip drop
drip drop
drip drop
drip drop

Related Reading

Poem for Children with Trouble Sleeping - Poetry

Notes on a Zombie Cataclysm - Poetry

Earning My Keep - Poetry