"Awese is the name of the second ranking deity within the sky pantheon
of the African Surinamese religion called Winti. This deity bestows
healing powers and clairvoyant abilities to his devotees and mediums.
Awese also refers to an abstract force that can best be translated as a
conciliatory, healing and liberating power in human affairs."
– D. France Olivieira
AWESE
!Kabra.
troki gi den afkodreyman
a mindri n' akapudyari
pe fodu e lolo
nanga santi ini en ay
lek papawinti
a mindri n' aladey son
Wiki den mi kabra
ini a dofokanpu
mindri a doti f' Sranan
troki mek' kromanti
sekete nang' a pingi fu mandron
a mindri den awese
prisi a gronmama AWESE
opo frey mi nengrekopu mindri a watrapan
A ten e kot' a greb'olo Ancestral Spirits, Kabra-ô!
send out your call-song to the adherents
in the open tenement-yard
where the fodu snake writhes
with sand in his eyes
like the papawinti
during the heat of the day.
Shake them up, my kabra,
those in the ritual huts
&
#0160; right down here in Sranan.
Sing-call and let the kromanti spirits
dance the sekete at the beat of the great drum
among the awese.
Pay homage to the earth goddess
and then fly off, my black essence, over the water pans.
Time is already digging the grave's hole.
*
PE MI TANAPU WHERE I STAND
Pe mi tanapu Where I stand
ini a futmarki f' mi winsi in the footprint of my wishes
ef' ini wan swanpu f' bigimenbre or in a swamp of conceit
d' e freyri mi a tap' wan tiri dungru pasi courting me on a quiet dark road
d' e fet' fu broko mi saka a gron that's trying to get me on my knees
Pe mi tanapu Where I stand
ini wan bâsman kapweri f'mi dren in the grip of the backwoods of my dream
d' e sor' ensref' lek' wan bigi gowt'busi presenting itself as eldorado
fu basra mi ati nanga fur' winmarki to tempt my heart full with assurances
a mindri wan faya sabana in the middle of a hot savanna
di brad' mofo sondro kaba with its mouth wide open without letup.
Pe mi tanapu Where I stand
a tap' wan ston pilari f' makti on the pinnacle of power
d' e dwingi mi fu weg' ati forcing me to weigh the pains
fu dedeyuru di ankra e wakti mi of my approaching death hour awaiting me.
Pe mi tanapu
grontapu libi Where I stand
Pe mi tanapu There's life for you!
Where I stand.
Poems from 'Awese' copyright © by Johanna Schouten-Elsenhout Estate, Paramaribo, 1965
Copyright this English translation 'Awese: Light in This Everlasting Dark Moon' © by
D. France Olivieira, Paramaribo, Suriname, 2010
FARJOURNEY CARIBBEAN 