Regnor Charles Bernard (1915-1981) was a Haitian-born poet, essayist, literary critic, and journalist who taught both in the Congo and in Canada. He published three books of poetry in his lifetime: Le Souvenir (1940), Pêche d’étoiles (1943), and Négre (1945).
from the article:
Daybreak
I shall rest my heavy fist upon the table And you shall, like shadows, return to silence. And night shall be within you, Around you, when my stare births lightning,
Pedestals shall fall When I sing my sovereign song When I raise my finger to the sun.
Your citadels were built upon my flesh; But if this were to bruise my skin, The agony could only stretch my will taut like the string Of a bow.
I am, still, the volcano that shall greet With beautiful and dangerous music The end of the heavy nightmare And the call of Relief.
Do you know?
It will be enough to move my body And rest my heavy fist upon the table For you, toward silence and night, To return
Like shadows.