Literature in Translation |

from No Way in the Skin without This Bloody Embrace

Since throwing off the French yoke of slavery and imperialism, Haiti has been a place besieged — by white supremacist fear, economic injustice, geopolitical isolation, and meteorological devastation. In Jean D’Amérique’s book-length poem, No Way in the Skin without This Bloody Embrace, from which these poems are excerpted, this state of struggle is reflected not only in the poems, which meditate on the bloody embraces of history, capitalism, disaster, and more, but also in the form — the margins are so strict and consistent that they often break words in half. As we see, though, in the fourth excerpt here, when ‘burnish’ is broken, the ‘burn’ within it is revealed. For D’Amérique, breakage doesn’t necessarily mean loss. In fact, abundance in the face of paucity is the modus operandi of his work. The richness of his vision defies the straits history assumes his nation is in. The dexterity of his wordplay belies the reduced material circumstances the “developed world” has foisted upon him. And the emotional complexity, of loving “among a growing pile of corpses,” of being a sponge transforming rot into diamonds, reminds us that though circumstances may impact us, they do not determine who we are or how we act, nor do they reduce the power of a love that sees death as just another constraint that instead of surrendering to we can work around.  — Conor Bracken

 

/     /     /     /     /

 

 

for a being mixed with my own

 

Taking you for half, I invest in the beauty of the

sky. Hunk of light that cuts the seasons open in order

to live within time. I am bled by the jealousy of

clouds until I lose the taste for blue. My pupils

darken, I don’t drink any more coffee down here,

the sky is a huge blue coffee from which dangles

your warm metaphor, which is so beautiful it wounds

the world’s pages. The clouds are jealous. Out of it,

the clouds have developed the habit of gathering

together a horde of squalls, hurling large holes

through your footsteps.

 

*

 

The sirens’ song provides an abridged idea of your

voice. You’re still this broken shimmer tormenting

the mirror of the banality of men. Your eyes are

cathedrals birthed by the sighs of moonlight,

that enormous sponge sucking up the world’s rot

to then spew it out in diamantine rays. Soldier

shredded by vital ammo, to lower the stars I steer

your eyes.

 

 

*

 

 

To provide a living tongue, graft a mouth to these

lips that give rise to rain. To spread myself across

the intersection. No paradox if in the volcano we

find something to wash ourselves with

 

the entirety of time in my hand

the entire sum of water in my mouth

I am witness to the whirlwind in your lap

 

*

 

And when your music deserts me, words burn-

ish me. My skin’s phrase slips into interruption.

All the while outside anonymous bodies search

for embraces to name. All the while outside havoc

hacks a path before its name arrives. While I, I buff

the gulag of words.

 

*

 

I’d like to flow on the other side of my erogenous

waves, step out of myself to better welcome a couple

caresses. But I am only good for rubbing against, just

good enough to erode my fortress of flesh. I burn

these hands, I am burning my hands.

 

*

 

if I say no

to the cool whiffs

and total aroma of breath

it’s because I’m getting ready

tearing out the windows

of my lungs

throat tightened so I can love you

among the growing piles of corpses

 

*

 

who said

a corpse is nothing but dust

and that the wind of death

out-shouts every other gust

 

if some day you die

I will steal the Zodiac

from the kids of the streets in my city

to reel you back

into the body of cars

 

 

/     /     /     /     /

 

 

à un être mêlé au mien

 

Te prenant pour moitié, j’investis dans la beauté du

ciel. Paquet de lumière qui tranche les saisons pour

habiter le temps. Je suis saigné par la jalousie des

nuages jusqu’à perdre le goût du bleu. Mes pupilles

sombrent, je ne bois plus de café d’ici-bas, le ciel

est un grand café tout bleu où se pend ta chaude

métaphore, ta métaphore si belle à blesser les pages

du monde. Les nuages sont jaloux. Par jalousie,

les nuages prennent l’habitude de convoquer une

cohorte de grains de pluie, jetant de grands trous

dans tes pas.

 

*

 

Le chant des sirènes donne une courte idée de ta

voix. Tu demeures reflet cassé qui tourmente le

miroir de la platitude des hommes. Tes yeux sont

cathédrales exauçant le soupir des clairs de lune,

immense éponge buvant tout le pourri du monde

pour s’épancher en rayons diamantés. Soldat troué

de balles vitales, à descendre les étoiles je braque tes

yeux.

 

*

 

Donner langue vivante, greffer bouche à ces

lèvres qui donnent lieu à la pluie. M’étaler dans

l’intersection. Paradoxe aucun si du volcan nous

trouvons de quoi nous laver

toute éternité dans ma main

toute eau sur ma gueule

je suis témoin de ta tempête pubienne

 

*

 

Et quand ta musique me déserte, les mots m’enfer-

ment. La phrase de ma peau gicle dans l’inachevé.

Tandis que dehors des corps anonymes cherchent

étreintes à nommer. Tandis que dehors des fracas se

frayent un chemin avant la lettre. Moi je peaufine la

prison des mots.

 

J’aimerais m’écouler par-delà mes flots érogènes,

m’écartant de moi-même pour mieux gagner les

caresses. Mais je ne suis bon qu’à frotter, je ne suis

bon qu’à éroder mon château de chair. Je me brûle

les mains, je me brûle les mains.

 

*

 

si je dis non

aux relents frais

et à l’arôme intact du souffle

c’est que je me prépare

en arrachant les fenêtres

de mes poumons

gorge serrée pour t’aimer

dans les amoncellements de cadavres

 

*

 

qui a dit

qu’un cadavre n’est que poussière

et que le vent de la mort

gagne à tous les coups

 

si tu meurs un jour

je volerai la vedette

aux enfants de rues de ma ville

pour te repêcher

dans le corps des voitures

 

*     *     *

 

Jean D’Amérique, Nul chemin dans la peau que saignante étreinte, Cheyne éditeur, 2017. © Cheyne éditeur, all rights reserved.

To acquire a copy of No Way in the Skin without This Bloody Embrace by Jean D’Amérique, click here to visit the book’s page at  Ugly Duckling Presse.

 

Contributor
Conor Bracken

Conor Bracken‘s debut collection of poems is The Enemy of My Enemy is Me (Diode Edition, 2021). His translation of Mohammed Khaïr-Eddine’s Scorpionic Sun (CSU Poetry Center, 2019) was the first English translation of the avant-garde Moroccan writer’s work. His latest translation is of Jean D’Amérique’s No Way in the Skin without this Bloody Embrace (Ugly Duckling Presse, 2022). He is teaching at the Cleveland Institute of Art.

Contributor
Jean D'Amerique

Jean D’Amérique, born in Haiti in 1994, is a poet, playwright, and novelist. He divides his time between Paris and Port-au-Prince. Author of several plays and collections of poetry, he has received the Prix de Poésie de la Vocation for Nul chemin dans la peau que saignante étreinte (Cheyne, 2017) and the Prix Jean-Jacques Lerrant des Journées de Lyon des Auteurs de Théâtre for Cathédrale des cochons (éditions Théâtrales, 2020). His first novel, Soleil à coudre, was published by Actes Sud in 2021.

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