Haiti Report

By Carolyn S. Scarr

February 23, 2004

They live, they die before his eyes

as in the basement room

Pierre recounts the stories he has heard.

from distant friends, last seen

only two months past.

     Moise is in hiding

     don't know where.

     I hope to hear from him again

     in a few days.

     Imprisoned torturers

     broken free by well-armed friends

     drag from their homes

     the witnesses against them.

     In Gonaïves

     thirty Lavalas supporters

     are murdered in one day

     execution style.

     Cap-Haitien taken by armed rebels

     re-taken by its populace.

     In early morning darkness

     gunboat enters the harbor

     heavy arms, new guns.

     Some fighters speaking Spanish

     Once again Cap-Haitien

     falls to foreign hands.

     Old woman's house

      is burned before her eyes.

     Her daughter organized

     bicentennial celebrations

     -- crime enough.

Fighting despair, Pierre recounts

the stories he has heard.

© 2004 Carolyn S. Scarr

Carolyn Scarr is a member of the board of Ecumenical Peace Institute/Clergy and Laity Concerned in northern California. She is dedicated to addressing many justice and peace issues, and since May 1995 she has been especially working on Iraq, including the sanctions and the ongoing and growing war. Carolyn is a United Methodist layperson, and may be reached by email at epicalc@earthlink.net .