Transformocean
Translated By Forrest Gander
My delirium is a transformocean
Rocking me like the seven thousand waves
That brought Wangolo to Ziltik.
Cric . . .
Crack . . .
Tim Tim
Bwa sèch
It’s a tale of salty foam,
Of centuries-old laughter
Breaking out anew in wet reflections,
Of the coming and going of silences.
It’s a tale of perfect agonies,
Of crepuscular wind
Perforating the horizon’s pith.
Cric . . .
Crack . . .
Tim Tim
Bwa sèch
One time it was the rocks of the sea
That didn’t fathom the pain of scorched rocks . . .
One time it was Agwé, the sea’s capricious power
Mobilizing mysterious adventures . . .
One time it was Wangolo,
A green hope
Condemned to go down at sea eternally . . .
One time it was the “Lobe,”
Those violent tam-tams of the sea drum
Touched by Olókún,
Full lives in Yemaya . . .
One time there were islands floating
Across the rough sea
Caught in the schizophrenic libido
Between the moon and the sun . . .
There is no way to end the story
But I know Ziltik is a mirage
So my delirium will always be a transformocean
As I lament Wangalo’s curse
And I weep at the sea’s edge
So that my sorrows might release me.
Notes:
Wangolo is a character in Haitian folklore. Ziltic is a Creole deformation of “Les îles Turques-et-Caïques” (the Turks and Caicos Islands). The refrain “Cric . . . Crack . . . Bwa sèch” is the classic manner of beginning a traditional Haitian story. “Lobe” is the action and sound made by striking the surface of water with the hand.
Copyright Credit: Samuel Gregoire, "Transformocean," translated by Forrest Gander in Water's Edge: Writing on Water. Copyright © 2023 by Northwestern University. Published 2023 by Curbstone Books/Northwestern University Press. Reprinted by permission of Northwestern University.
Source: Water's Edge: Writing on Water (Northwestern University, 2022)