Page 31 - 37-Fall 2013

Hope Rises from the Rubble

Oh woman steeped in fruit blossoms,
Whose love for others soaks in happy contemplation,
You are now on the threshold of a day that does not end
For your endless good spirit overpowers all selfishness and despair.

Oh Master, heir of sun and light,
Continue on your lofty journey, flying in the pure and unsoiled air,
While my island yells and swells
And your positive thoughts water our soil.
While your palm trees whistle like a conch shell
In our ears at night when it is warm and calm.
Your heart beats like fluttering wings
And the more altitude we gain,
The closer we draw to all beings, all things.
Your contribution to the wellbeing of mankind
Flows and multiplies around us,
Bringing progress and peace to all and to me.

Thank you, Master, thank you, oh soul that probes the depths.
Thank you for allowing us to reside at the foot of your hills,
At the foot of your thoughts through the fountain of my pen,
Close to your aphorisms
Which help us correct our mistakes
Rather than praise our own egos.
A new reality and maturity have come to us through you.

Thank you for making us rise to new levels and heights.
Now the vocation of mankind is no other
Than the rise to ever-higher steps on the ladder of values
Which brings us from night to day in mornings of lily-white.

All the stars in the garden of the blue sky have gathered
And, in you, a woman was born from their light.
And I love, oh Master, that impulse of yours that looks to reach the firmament.
My thirst hangs on your pure visions
Leading us to Jerusalem
Where the sheep dream of eternal lily fields;
And there I see you dressed in petals,
And I come to place a tiara on your head
So that, woman and light, dew and mirror,
You may wear this special dress made of all the flowers that adorn the hills.
And now, the sun, your sun, our sun has arisen at the horizon.

Haiti, February 2011

Clotaire Saint-Natus writes poetry in both French and
Haitian Creole. He and his wife, Michaelle Saint-Natus,
have been friends of Tzu Chi since the 2010 earthquake. www.us.tzuchi.org | 31
Photo: Curtis Hsing