Saturday, January 23, 2010

Democracy Now (Ode to Moriso)

Democracy now is more yours than mine.
You sing. And I see no one like me.

You preach. And I see no one in the pew.
But you.

You help. And I am not helped.
I help. And you are helped.

I pay. You earn.
You pay. You earn.

I like you.
You like you.


Sometimes I pick up beats inspired by someone else. Tonight I was inspired by Moriso-Lewa (Félix Morisseau-Leroy). He wrote in Haitian Créole – the first major writer to do so. In 1961, he made Créole an official language of Haiti - majority spoke it. He rode a horse in Haiti and also wrote in French. A New Yorker in the 1940s, Félix received his masters degree in literature from Columbia University. He then returned to Port Au Prince and paid attention to the Créole of the streets. The Father of Créole Renaissance later lived in exile in Sengal and Ghana. He lived his final years in Miami where a street in Little Haiti is named after him. Dyakout I (Diacoute) (1953), a collection of poems, has been translated into six languages.


Antigone means "unbending." Moriso translated the Greek Tragedy into Kreyol as Wa Kreyon adapting characters and context to Haitian culture (e.g. Vodoun priest). Coincidentally (or not), i saw Antigone on 9+9-9-9 (Sept 19, 2009). This was photographed at 949. i dont see a lot of plays.

3 comments:

X said...

Kreyol beats are structured in a different way to suspend disbelief.

X said...

My first Moriso:
http://www.leftcurve.org/LC23webPages/felixpoems.html

X said...

Often our world likes to anglocize everything including our names - an old habit from colonial days if you really want a history lesson. Kreyol = Creole in Creole. The language of Kreyol is very rhythmic and warm. If you know French - and reggae or African music, it's actually not too bad to sing for the first time.
about an hour ago ·