I had listened to the call of the sea
before the print of your words
on my tongue
Before the impact of your eyes on my cheek
I had breathed the island beauty
and the colors of the land
had put thunder slivers on my brow
Well before the burn of your love
I had grazed fires of a dream
with my heart open on my fear
never to see a world
of shared bread and rising sun
I had lived on daylight and forgotten the night’s length
On the infinite timeline
don’t past and present
share the same refrain
old, salvaged and enchanting?
Well before you I lived
but since you
sometimes comes to me
too vivid an image
to be just a memory
a wild and sweet melody
a trace more regal than a stripe
the rustling
of an almost perfect bliss
An exquisite tearing
Translated by Evelyne Trouillot