The Grand Guignol of Countries
……………….. or
Country of the Grand Guignol
the circus and its clowns
the theater and its marionettes
the carnival and its masks
the zoo and its monkeys
the arena and its bulls
the slaughterhouse and its black beef
the yankee and the money wheel
the native and the wheel of blood
voodoo and its grand Dons
the holy family and its demons
the people and their misery
exile and its survivors
without faith without law
Haiti and its cross
Haiti in hell
in the name of the father
and of the son
and of the zombie
by Paul Laraque
from Poetry Like Bread
…..—Poets f the Political Imagination
Curbstone Books, 1994