"Johanna Schouten-Elsenhout (1910 – 1992), or Tante Jo as she was
affectionately called, was born in Paramaribo, Suriname, where she attended
middle school and learned English and German, though it is not clear whether
she actually graduated. To have completed more than six years of schooling
was quite a feat for anyone at that time but especially so for someone who
was both black and female. She later became a well-known stage and radio
personality who read her poems on the radio to a wide audience, both at
home and abroad (Austria, France,The Netherlands and Russia.)"
- D. France Olivieira
AMEMBA AMEMBA
Braka neti Black nights
granaki ay bright eyes
takru triki turning tricks
a mindri on the cold ground.
kowru gron Youthful years
Yongu yari are seducing me
d' e kor' mi while having fun.
a mindri prisiri Death
Sabana bromki is staring at me
di opo fesi lets big dreams
e waki mi so nya show me
mek' bigi dren a footprint
sor' mi where the morning star
wan futmarki clears
pe a musdey stari the way
e trowe krinfaya in the everlasting dark moon.
mindri a pasi
fu têgo dungru mun
PREYGRON PLAYGROUND
A mindri a preydoti At the playground
m' e si a ten I see time
e poko gwe a baka wobbling its way back in time
lek' wan dungru neti like a dark night
ini sma libi in people's lives.
M' e si a wakt'oso I see the sentry box
e spuku mindri a tranga son shimmering in the hot sun
ini pinaman brudu in the blood of the poor.
M' e yere den owruten I hear the past
abra wan se f' watrây across a sea of tears
e bbar' lek' dondru psa rolling like thunder peals
mindri faya in between flashes.
M' e si den yeye f' disten I see today's souls idling about
e dray lontu troubled by good and evil.
a mindri wan sorgu bagasi I hear the lucky ones knocking
fu ogri nanga bun under a glass topped table at the center of the room
M' e yere fa den bakafinga enjoying the sun
e naki ondro wan where sorrow strikes in the dark
mindri-oso grastafra where I hear church bells toll
a mindri prisiri fu a son for God's sun
pe sari e nyan sapa a dungru lighting up the playground
pe m' e yere kerki gengen to free all our souls.
e naki f' si gado faya
a mindri a preydoti
f' wi ala yeye kon fri
*
Poems from 'Awese' © by Johanna Schouten-Elsenhout Estate, Paramaribo, 1986
Copyright this English translation 'Awese: Light In This Everlasting Dark Moon'
© by D. France Olivieira, Paramaribo, 2010
FARJOURNEY CARIBBEAN 