Once upon a Time

“There was a time when, if I wanted, I could just climb a tree and take all the fruit I wanted. Mangoes, coconuts, anything – I could eat them until I had no more room in my stomach. Even, for example, in a place I was not from. I am from Okay, but I have a friend in Leogane. If I went to visit my friend, there would always be a big basket of fruit waiting when I arrived, and I would take as I pleased. 

Now, it is not so.  Those times are gone, here and everywhere.  Everything is commerce, money.  Even in prosperous places, people don’t have all they need. I lived for a time in New York. You know, even there, people are sleeping in the streets. Even in New York some people don’t have enough to eat.

Our hardship will continue, I think, for the earth is punishing us now. There are too many of us here, and we have mistreated the earth for too long.  And the earth is all that matters. Apre mwen pase, apre w pase, apre nou tout pase, late a se anko la. After I pass, after you pass, after we all pass, the earth will still be here. And it is angry with us for cutting the trees and destroying the soil. I do not know if there is anything we can do to stop the earth’s anger now. So I wait.

I await the return of Jesus. I await God. Paske lavi pa ka kontinye konsa. Because life cannot continue like this. What can we do?

 

And yet, this is still a good place. Always it is a good place. It is home, and so mwen renmen Ayiti.”