For Haiti
For Haiti
Lorna Dee Cervantes
3 million stories fall
an apocalypse away
the concrete structures fail
the palaces, the guard houses
the poverty pockets buckle
and strap
3 million stories
fall silent and silence the tongues
of those who stay – 3 million voices
rise singing in a dusty song of survival
a hymn to the Orishas, a single
story in a last breath – the people still
their hearts – the people open closed
hearts – the people need to speak
their stories, their ragged endings
the wings of will arise
