from “When the Rooster Announces the Dawn of Another Day”
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.
“Alain Mabanckou’s words are plain-spoken but powerful, deeply rooted in his relationship with his African homeland, from which he is exiled, due to the political upheavals that continue to ravage his country. Mabanckou draws much of his inspiration from the flora and fauna of his childhood, which, for him, simultaneously symbolize birth, life, and death—and the poetry that resides in us. He is steadfast in his belief that, in the absence of a supreme being, it’s up to us to save our humanity, as well as our planet.”
—Nancy Naomi Carlson
Alain Mabanckou
Alain Mabanckou is the author of As Long as Trees Take Root in the Earth and Other Poems (Seagull Books, 2021), among many other titles. He currently serves as a professor of literature at the University of California, Los Angeles.