translated by Nancy Naomi Carlson
god turns his back on us
how to interpret
the tablet of laws
translate the portent
of night
for all was already transcribed
*
I’m not to blame
said the migratory bird
I was gone for the winter
my only crime
is to sport the same
plumage as those in my branch
nonetheless
the birds of your kind
have sinned in your name
*
one day the moon lodged a complaint
it was heard by the darkness
but the day erased the grievance of the moon
ever since
we have lost our memory
Copyright © 2022 by Alain Mabanckou and Nancy Naomi Carlson. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on June 6, 2022, by the Academy of American Poets.