The Vespers Of Jérémie, Grand 'Anse, Haiti Poem by Hebert Logerie

I was a toddler,
When these morons
Invaded our cities and towns,
To spread death, fear and terror,
In Jérémie, Haiti.
The tyrants have disrupted our paradise
Of yore, for life.
These sharks have punctured our spleens and guts,
And bloodied our beautiful coastline and shores.
These vampires, these blood-suckers,
These criminals, theses torturers
Caught our babies with their bayonets,
Under the pretext that they did not want to waste their bullets.
How odious! How audacious, those filthy pests!
Already, our world is infested. How dishonest!
(This summer is the fiftieth anniversary
Of these horrible crimes) . The streets became cemeteries.
Our poor peasants are psychologically zombified.
How sad, many of them are blinded by power and money.
Our memories, victims of a sluggish pusillanimity,
Are paralyzed. Countless are lost in the dungeon.
A people, without memory,
Will never reach victory.
Half a century after this morbid destruction,
Many of these criminals are enjoying their unearned peace;
However, the victims never saw the veils of JUSTICE.
What a shame! We cannot digest this madness,
The world should not accept this painful sadness,
Where myriads of our brave young men died for no reason.
What a heart-wrenching anniversary! What a tragic season!

Copyright © August 5,2014 Logerie Hébert, All Rights Reserved
Hébert Logerie is the author of several collections of poems.