Poems of Solidarity for Haiti This a collection of all the poems submitted to a poetry contest in support of the people of Haiti in the aftermath of the January 12, 2010 earthquake. Contest held by Alice Lovelace, Armed with Art and In Motion Magazine All poetry copyrights © 2010 belong to the poets. Introductory article copyright © 2011 belongs to the authors. Published by NPC Productions Poems of Solidarity for Haiti Contents Introduction Million Plus Remain Homeless and Displaced in Haiti: One Year After Quake by Bill Quigley and Jeena Shah .........................................................................................................7 Contest Winners A Sharecropper’s Pantoum by M. Ayodele Heath ......................................................................................................................11 Ayiti by April ‘AP’ Smith ..................................................................................................................................................12 Wings Soaked in Molasses by Darnell Fine ...............................................................................................................................14 Haiti, after Pat Robertson by Karen Garrbrant ........................................................................................................................18 Everybody Running, Saying Jesus by Jenny D’Angelo ..........................................................................................................................21 Tomorrow’s Toussaints by Kalamu ya Salaam ......................................................................................................................22 All Other Poems Submitted (in alphabetical order by poet’s name) Black is the Color by Franklin Abbott .........................................................................................................................25 Anger in Hiding by Anthonia Lametu Adams ...........................................................................................................26 Okay to Cry by Anthonia Lametu Adams ...........................................................................................................30 continued on next page 2 Poems of Solidarity for Haiti The Only Race by Nebadon Adams .........................................................................................................................33 Mon pauvre petit pays! by Edwige Archer-Wuillot ..............................................................................................................34 Wake Up: Letters to Haiti by Farasha Baylock .........................................................................................................................35 The Tragedians by Brett Beiles .................................................................................................................................37 THE HARVEST by Summer Brenner ........................................................................................................................39 Haitian Girl Speaks Spanish by Loune Jodbiatha Calixte ............................................................................................................40 Standing Next to a Mountain by Tichaona Chinyelu .............................................................................................................................41 Haiti Poem by Natalie “Poetic Soul” Cook ........................................................................................................42 Confines of Despair by Ronald Edwards .................................................................................................................................45 Pictures Are Taken by Malika Hadley Freydberg ...........................................................................................................46 Here Their Cry by Janet “JagWonder” Grant ...........................................................................................................50 COME OUT SINGING by Shayla Hawkins ..........................................................................................................................52 Villanelle de Dlo by M. Ayodele Heath ......................................................................................................................54 migrants’ prayer by Vanessa Huang ...........................................................................................................................55 Haiti is waiting by Ja A. Jahannes ............................................................................................................................57 continued on next page 3 Poems of Solidarity for Haiti I need to speak to god by Ja A. Jahannes ............................................................................................................................58 Haiti Lives by Rochelle Johnson .......................................................................................................................59 Haiti - January 2010 by Patricia Spears Jones ..................................................................................................................60 “Poor Haiti” by Shenishe L. Kelly ................................................................................................................................62 “Ayiti, Quisqueya, Bohio” by Shenishe L. Kelly ................................................................................................................................64 Haiti’s Psalm by Joshua Lesser ............................................................................................................................65 Haiti Arise by James D. Logan ..........................................................................................................................67 Haiti Love by James D. Logan ..........................................................................................................................68 Haiti Poem by Heather Long .............................................................................................................................70 Haiti: 1.2010 by JKS Makokha .....................................................................................................................................72 Can You Tell Me? by John Maney, Jr. ..........................................................................................................................75 in a devastated town / in a roupit toun by Andra McCallum .......................................................................................................................76 Haitian Orphans / Haitian Orphants by Andra McCallum .......................................................................................................................77 My Haitian Man by Miriam Medina ...................................................................................................................................79 REVOLUTION by Miriam Medina ...................................................................................................................................80 continued on next page 4 Poems of Solidarity for Haiti Haiti’s Song by Ashley L. Milburn ......................................................................................................................81 BUT NOT OUR HOPE by Tinashe Muchuri ........................................................................................................................82 You, me, us by Tinashe Muchuri ........................................................................................................................84 Poetic Combat – Elegy for a writer by Khainga O’Okwemba .................................................................................................................85 Universal Superpowers by Guilty Penmanship ............................................................................................................................86 Three in a Million - Voices from the Haitian Camps by Bill Quigley ................................................................................................................................89 These Are The Last Days by Ellington Reed ...........................................................................................................................93 AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGHHHH-bolish by Saimurai (Simon M Murray) ......................................................................................................94 REPARATION SONG by Saimurai (Simon M Murray) ......................................................................................................98 Beyond The Boundaries by Kalamu ya Salaam ....................................................................................................................100 Haiti Mon Chéri by Ashley Rose Salomon ..............................................................................................................104 “Life Like death, lasts only a little while.” – Edwidge Danticat by Hamzat Sani ............................................................................................................................106 To Haiti by Janice Sapigao .........................................................................................................................109 Haiti by Rommi Smith ...........................................................................................................................110 So Many People by Ardelle Stowe ..........................................................................................................................112