O HAITI

by George Held


O Haiti, what you done to be so punished?
Earthquake, cholera, hurricane—
You musta done something mighty bad
To be punished like a gal what broke
All Ten Commandments.

O Haiti, what you done to be so punished?
Earthquake, cholera, hurricane—
Was it you squatted in the middle of the sea
Or lost the war with the Dominicans
And were left in “the land of high mountains”?

O Haiti, what you done to be so punished?
Earthquake, cholera, hurricane—
Was it you let the French take out l’Ouverture,
Let the U.S. Marines bring back slavery,
Let Trujillo kill thousands of gens de couleur?

O Haiti, what you done to be so punished?
Earthquake, cholera, hurricane—
Does le bon Dieu have a special place
In Hell for you? What you done, what
You done to be so punished?


George Held’s poetry chapbook Phased is available in a print-on-demand version at amazon.com.
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