Kim Triedman (ed.)

Poets for Haiti : an anthology of poetry and art

Yileen press

Vineland (N.J.), 2010

bibliothèque insulaire

Poets for Haiti : an anthology of poetry and art / ed. by Kim Triedman ; preface by Paul Farmer and Ophelia Dahl. - Vineland (N.J.) : Yileen press, 2010. - 56 p. : ill. ; 23 cm.
ISBN 978-0-615-39301-8

Don't cry, Georgina It's late … I hear a little bird singing Very softly behind the house … Cauvin L. Paul, Georgina, p. 9

KIM TRIEDMAN : (…)

On February 23, 2010 — six weeks after the city of Port-au-Prince was brought to its knees by one of the most destructive earthquakes on record — 18 remarkable writers joined together on the Harvard University campus and demonstrated just what poetry could achieve. (…)

The poets assembled for the reading represented a remarkable and diverse group. Given the time imperative it became a very democratic and almost incidental kind of assemblage, which was one of the things I most appreciated about the experience. Everyone owned the evening : the poet laureate shared the stage with the high school senior ; the university professors introduced the workaday poets ; the Haitian-born writers were there to speak for themselves. There was no grandstanding. Poets were introduced by name only. People were there to do something as sometimes only a group can — to make themselves heard.

As we were organizing this event, I keep thinking back to a children's book I used to read to my daughters called Miss Rumphius about a little girl named Alice. Alice's grandfather was a retired sea captain living out his old age on the coast of Maine. He tells her about all the wonderful places he has seen on his journeys. When Alice announces that she, too, will travel the world and then find a place by the sea, he replies : « That is all very well, little Alice, but you must also find a way to make the world more beautiful ».

I often think of that line, even after so many years. It's something I take very personally — the imperative, and the privilege. On February 23^rd, poets of the greater Boston community came together to read some breathtaking poetry, to a huge audience that had assembled to support a stunning and critically important cause. Like little Alice, who grew old scattering lupine seeds over the hillside of Maine, we had all found a small way, that night, to make the world more beautiful.

(…)

Introduction, pp. I-II

All proceeds from the sale of this anthology will go to Partners in Health to support the people of Haiti.

CONTENTS

Introduction, Kim Triedman Preface, Paul Farmer and Ophelia Dahl Intersection, Danielle Legros Georges Port-au-Prince, Afaa Michael Weaver Life was easier as a square, Kim Triedman Foundation, Daniel Tobin Georgina, Cauvin L. Paul Poem : To water, Barbara Helfgott Hyett Ports of sorrow, Patrick Sylvain Maroon, Danielle Legros Georges Homecoming, Daniel Tobin Anything warm, Wendy Mnookin What takes place takes place upon it, Nadia Herman Colburn The girl, Barbara Helfgott Hyett Earthquake, Marilène Phipps-Kettlewell Track 5 : Summertime, Jericho Brown God's on the sidewalk hugging his knees, Wendy Mnookin Boulevard Jean Jacques Dessalines, Patrick Sylvain Walking an old woman into the sea, Frannie Lindsay After a stroke, my mother addresses children in a photograph of a sidewalk in Port-au-Prince, Tom Daley Reflector, Fabienne M.G. Casseus-Hilarion cruelty, Lucille Clifton After, Rosanna Warren I'm writing a poem, Togiram (Emile Célestin-Mégie) A place at the table, Fred Marchant Young apple tree, December, Gail Mazur Love song, Nadia Herman Colburn Ginza samba, Robert Pinsky Toil, Kim Triedman Lucky 4 A.M., Kim Stafford Fundament, Christina Davis This evening, I will not cry for my dead, Jean-Dany Joachim