O Mother I see you dressed like your sisters in brief loin-cloth
Drawing telluric strength from the baptismal waters
I see you at the evening mass
I see you splendid breaking into the dance
With ceaselessly swaying hips
You are a blazing ripple at the foot of the houngan
and seemingly bonelessly supple beneath strong spices…
Paulin Joachim is a Beninese poet, journalist, and editor. His two volumes of poetry are Un nègre raconte (1954) and Anti-grâce (1967). In 2006 he was among the winners of the W. E. B. Du Bois medal.
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