03 Apr HEARTWOOD
Hollow-hearted, hollow-handed,
they went hungry up the mountains,
branch by branch taking down the trees.
the poor people and merchants of Haiti
cut them down for coal,
uprooting, deforesting, devastating the green
for survival.
Like the politicians uprooting the teaching of our ancestors
Du sol soyons seuls maîtres!
Their motto: Divide and conquer
They turn us against each other mentally, physically–
can’t you see?
Never built a little avenue for us to earn a decent living.
Poor Haitians, hungry, dirt poor on dirt streets, bare-footed
while rich politicians in the white house in Port-au-Prince
stroll polished marble floors in patent leather shoes.
After Toussaint’s LeOvurture revolution,
our ancestors motto:
Through unity we find strength.
We’re tired of fighting each other–
tired of killing our brothers and sisters.
Now we wage war with Mother Nature,
destroying her seeds, cutting down quenep branches
downing palm trees and breaching the almond bark.
Heartland,
Homeland,
unlike our ancestors,
we stand on naked hills
divided and hungry.
Lugensky Durosier was born in Haiti. He recently learned that the roots of his Polish first name stemmed from remnants of Polish troops that Napoleon had garrisoned and eventually abandoned in Haiti. Lugensky was a creative writing major at Bloomfield college and received a Masters Degree in Business. He loves his rich cultural heritage!
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