In the Mountans of Haiti [A Poem: in English and Spanish]

In the Mountains of Haiti

(In the City)

-July is a hot month-sweating
Poverty out on every street
(In Port de Prince); mixing

Memory with desire causes stirring.
Not much rain in Haiti (in 1986);
Summer kept us busy, building
A medical clinic, in the mountains?.

(In the Mountains)

-A new life, for the dried-up village.
With only a shower of sun-beams
(Resting) coming over my shoulders

I stopped work to rest-;
The others (young) kept working in the sun,
They all got sick-bed-ridden.
And my teammates became frightened.

(Night comes)

-A heap of fragmented images
Where the sun-beams used to beat
(And the dried up foliage gave no shelter)

Gave-way, to the sounds of crickets
And night's voodoo drums.
Shadows from rocks-extended out
Seemed to shout, shout-talk!...

(Night Noises)

-I never knew what they were thinking
Somehow, they seem to speak to me now.
Footsteps; fires crackling; voices chanting:

By bushes, tress, and huts-all about;
All nightly noises that never stopped-
No wind under the door-nothing;
You see, know nothing-only hear

(?you are alive).

Note [#777; 7/27/05]: The author spent some time in Port de Prince, Haiti, at an Orphanage doing some work with the children; helped put on a puppet show; as well as the author spending some time in the mountains of Haiti, doing some work on building a medical clinic with a team from his church for a village that had no medical means; 19-students; he was the elder you could say, or one of the two; back in 1986.

In Spanish

En las montañas de Haití

(En la ciudad)

Julio es un mes caluroso-húmedo
La pobreza afuera en cada calle
(En el puerto de Príncipe); mezclando
La memoria con el deseo causando emoción.
No llovía mucho en Haití (en 1986)
El verano nos mantuvo ocupados, construyendo
Una clínica medica, en las montañas?.

(En las montañas)

-una nueva vida, por la desértica villa.
Con solamente una ducha rayos de sol
(Descansar) que viene sobre mis hombros
Paré el trabajo para descansar un rato-;
Los demás (jóvenes) se mantenían trabajando en el sol,
Todos ellos consiguieron enfermarse postrados en cama.
Y mis compañeros de equipo llegaron a estar asustados.

(La noche viene)

Un montón de imágenes fragmentadas
Donde los rayos del sol-solían golpear
(Todo el follaje seco no consiguió dar refugio)
Dando paso, al sonido de los grillos
Y los tambores voodoo nocturnos
¡Las sombras de las rocas, extendidas.
Parecían gritar gritar, conversando con gritos!?

(Ruidos nocturnos)

Yo nunca supe lo que ellos estaban pensando
De algún modo, ellos parecían hablarme ahora.
Pasos; crujido de fuegos, voces cantando:
Por arbustos, y chozas, - todo cerca:
Todos los sonidos nocturnos que jamás pararon-
Sin viento debajo de la puerta- nada;
Tú ves, no sabes nada- solo oyes
(Tu estas vivo).

Nota (#777; 7/27/05):El autor pasó algún tiempo en Puerto Príncipe, Haití, en un orfanato haciendo algún trabajo con los niños; ayudándoles a poner un teatro de títeres; Así como el autor paso algún tiempo en las montañas de Haití, haciendo algún trabajo en el edificio de una clínica medica con un grupo de su iglesia para la villa que no tenía ningún medio medico; 19 estudiantes; el era el mayor Ud. podría decir, o uno de los dos; atrás en 1986.

Poet, Dennis Siluk http://dennissiluk.tripod.com

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