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Two Poems for the Covid Dead
De powèm pou mò Kovid yo

— English & Ayisyen

Eddy Toussaint Tontongi

Tontongi avec sa tante Ketly Robillard en 2018.

Tontongi avec sa tante Ketly Robillard en 2018.

For the Traumatized and the Departed

(Dedicated to the dead and all those affected by COVID-19)

The dead, all those dead have a face
A name, a history and even a legend;
They are the amiable Barber Joe
Who would cut your hair like the
Woodpecker takes on the Maple tree,
Still serving to neighborhood children
Free ice-cream on Saturday afternoons.

They are Great Samba Bosala
Or Griot Mbale whose lyrical creed
And musical lore and zest gladden
Many a continent’s hearts, and melancholia,
Embellishing even the Great Boredom,
Even the Great Void of being, way before
Covid ever appeared in the land.

They are Mamie Johnson, the Matriarch               
Who couldn’t decide between buying groceries 
Or to refill her diabetic pills, torn between
Dying slowly or letting herself, in any instant,
Be ravaged by Covid’s murderous, cynical fury.
They are Carmen Valle retelling the past glory
Of her ancestral Island, redeeming her people’s
Mettle amid the calamities of her beloved New York.

They are Madelina, who got her first job
The day she was told of the finitude of her fate,
Her family’s lightning hope of overcoming five
Hundred years on the darker side of the planet.
They are Stanley the Carpenter, affable and gentle
Always whistling as if to transcend contingence,
Lightening the load of tears and adversities.

Yes, the dead, all those dead had a face,
Their history and saga will stay ever vivid
In the museum of our passage on this Earth;
They hatched a beautiful time that was,
They have been among us, and we best celebrate
Them by making of our tears new fertilizing
Dew for the blossoming of the better part                                  
Of us all — a new land of justice and beauty
To celebrate that which has been,
And could still be.

(May , 2020)
____________

Pou sa ki twomatize yo ak sa ki ale yo

(Dedikase ak moun ki mouri yo e ak tout viktim KOVID-19)

Mò yo, tout mò sa yo gen yon vizaj
Yon non, yon istwa e menm yon lejann ;
Yo se nonm janti Kwafè Jo
Ki koupe cheve w menm jan
Zwazo Pikvèt beke pyebwa Erab,
Men l toujou bay timoun katye a
Krèm glase glatis nan samdi aprèmidi.

Yo se nonm Gran Samba Bosala
Oswa Griyo Mbale ki fè lirik kredo
Ak kalite e piman mizik yo rejwi
Kè anpil kontinan, ak melankoli,
Yo anbeli menm Gran Anmèdman,
Menm Gran Vid nan sa w ye, lontan
Anvan Kovid te janm parèt nan zòn lan.

Yo se Manmi Johnson, Matriyak la
Ki pa t ka deside ant al achte lamanjay
Oswa ranpli remèd dyabèt li yo, pataje ant
Mouri lantman oswa kite l nenpòt ti moman
Dechalbore pa lafirè lapidè e sinik Kovid.
Yo se Carmen Valle k ap resite laglwa pase
Zansèt zile li yo, revalorize kouraj pèp li
Nan mitan kalamite Nouyòk byenneme l.

Yo se Madelina, ki jwenn premye travay li
Jou menm l aprann finitid final desten li,
Li, zèklè lespwa fanmi an pou simonte
Senk san zan bò kote ki pi nwa planèt la.
Yo se Ebenis Stanley, nonm emab e janti
Ki toujou ap soufle kòmsi pou l transande
Kontenjans, redui chay dlo je ak advèsite.

Wi, mò yo, tout mò sa yo gen yon vizaj
Listwa yo ak saga yo ap rete a jamè vivid
Nan mize pasaj nou sou Latè sila a ;
Yo te kouve yon bèl ti tan ki te reyèl,
Yo te la pami nou, e n ap selebre yo pi
Byen lè n fè dlo je nou tounen nouvo angrè
Lawoze pou florezon pi bon pati nan
Nou tout — yon nouvo preri lajistis ak bèlte
Pou selebre sa ki te la
E ki ta ka toujou la.

(Me 2020)
_________

Goodbye, Aunt Lili

(My aunt Marie-Ketly Robillard was passed away on Sunday, May 10 (US Mothers’ Day) at the age of 89, a victim of COVID-19. I had just finished the poem "For the Traumatized and the Departed" — the third in a series POEMS OF HOPE AND RESILIENCE — dedicated to all people affected by the virus. The following is an adjunct to that poem in English and in Haitian.)

My Aunt Lili, daughter of Ogoun,
Has joined the cavalcade of the departed;
Her Ti-Bonnanj has returned to her mythical
Ginen where our ancestors retreated
After valorous battles to redeem life.

My mother’s longtime confidant,
Beautiful, elegant, both hopeful
In their youth wished for Haiti
A kindlier and more just future.

Ever since my embryonic conception
Aunt Lili has been a steadfast presence;
Embodiment of courage, she endured
The misery of illness while pursuing
Those delights that make life a little
Sweeter, like a song or the sun,
Perhaps a bowl of rice, bannann peze,
A garden, a river or simply a smile.

She would want all of us to continue
The journey, steadfast, like the way
She traveled from Haiti’s Kafou
To New York, Connecticut, daring
The long roads to Florida and Georgia,
Always looking forward, toward discovery
Of new horizons, new ways of reaching
Her own magnificent splendor,
Be it her grand-nephew’s graduation
From storied Concord, or among companions
On the trail to life’s winding slope,
Or in harmonious peace at the mountain top.

Embodiment of courage, yes she was;
We will miss you, Aunt Lili, always.

(May14, 2020)
_______

Orevwa, Matant Lili

(Matant mwen Marie-Ketly Robillard te  mouri dimanch 10 me (Fèt Dèmè Etazini) ak laj 89 an, yon viktim KOVID-19. Mwen te fèk fini powèm mwen ki rele "For the Traumatized and the Departed / Pou sa yo ki twomatize ak sa ki ale yo" — pati yon seri ki titre POEMS OF HOPE AND RESILIENCE / POWÈM LESPWA AK ANDIRANS — ki dedikase ak tout moun ki afekte pa viris la. Powèm pi devan an se yon ajoutay powèm sila a ann alafwa anglè e ann Ayisyen.)

Matant Lili, pitit fi Papa Ogoun
Al jwenn pwosesyon sa k ale yo,
Tibonnanj li retounen nan Mèveye
Ginen kote zansèt yo repoze
Apre vanyan konba pou valorize lavi.

Konfidan manman m depi lontan,
Bèl, elegan, tou lè de plen lespwa
Yo te swete pou Ayiti nan jenès yo
Yon avni pi souriyan e pi jis.

Depi m sot nan matris manman m
Prezans Matant Lili toujou la nètalkole,
Vanyan enkanasyon kouraj, li andire
Tribilasyon maladi pandan l ap pouswiv
Ti gratifikasyon lavi yo ki rann li
Pi plezan, tankou yon chanson oswa
Solèy leve, petèt yon bòl diri, bannann peze,
Jadennaj, larivyè, oswa senpman yon souri.

Li t ap renmen pou nou tout kontinye
Avanti a, san flechi, kouwè jan l
Te vwayaje de Kafou ann Ayiti
Rive Nouyòk, Konektikèt, defye
Long wout Florida ak Jòji yo, toujou
Ap gade pi devan, dyekson dekouvèt
Nouvo orizon, nouvo fason pou l
Atenn pwòp esplandè mayifik pa l,
Kit se gradyasyon gran-neve l nan
Ewoyik Konkòd oubyen pami
Konpayon l yo sou santye fen lavi.

Vanyan enkanasyon kouraj, wi li ye;
N ap manke ou Matant Lili, toujou.

- Tontongi
Watertown, MA, me 2020

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