VWA: Poems For Haiti was created by Caper Literary Journal as a way to inspire people to think about the tragedy in Haiti. We want people — readers and writers alike — to generate hope through a time that is very dark. We have luxuries many do not, and though some of us cannot help in major ways, sharing your work in the name of their pain and strength is something we can do. VWA, the Kreyòl word for voice, aims to turn the pain and inspiration into literary works.
Simply, we seek words that support and praise the beautiful and resilient people of Haiti.
Caper Literary Journal is a monthly journal of poetry and prose, run by Editor-in-Chief Lisa Marie Basile.
For more information, visit www. caperjournal.com
and to submit to Poems For Haiti, email caperjournal@gmail.com with your poem + bio.
We will be printing an anthology!
A note for our readers and prospective contributors:
As Caper Literary Journals does not use advertising, or charge reading fees or contest fees — as well as being a very small, independent journal, we are unable to supply contributor copies for any of our anthologies. However, the anthology will be available as a free PDF and in print. We are sorry from the bottom of our hearts.
[…] The poems are listed on https://poemsforhaiti.wordpress.com/about/ […]
Confines of Despair
Slivers of light cut thru dust clouds
of cement and pain while desperation
cry’s out in vain.
Twisted steel, shaken and bent
imprison broken dreams and abandoned futures.
Dogs sniff ,barking wildly
pushing their once black moist noses,
now caked with death and destruction,
into the nightmares of limbo.
Prayers, petitions and laments
fuse into sorrow and utter horror.
A lone child’s hand breaks free from beneath
the ruble of desolation
in a last ditch effort for salvation
grasping at the fleeting vestiges of life itself.
Relief finds it mark ,
as an orphan is dragged free
back into a world of misery.
Hungrily the confines of despair
swallow pitiful masses
left behind to share eternity
below the streets of Haiti.