LYSZ FLO | LIBETE

Notice how the physical construction of these verses mirrors the topography of Haiti: https://www.freeworldmaps.net/centralamerica/haiti/haiti-physical-map.jpg

Note how LF makes an island of this action. It is the only text that is centered, in piece that employes a variety of visual techniques to communicate with the reader.

Discourse around italics in multi-lingual publishing runs deep and if you'd like to learn more, this poet has spoken and workshopped extensively on the topic. I recommend her most recent workshop, "Decolonizing La Lengua" available through the National Latinx Writers Group's videos of their 2021 Conference.

French, but unaccented. Note the contrast to both the title, and the next instance of the word, in the closing stanza.

Consider that, more so than English, French and Kreyole are gendered languages. Why make this choice here? Consider the attendent controversies around the expanding language in an effort in be gender inclusive.

Note the use of freedom and liberation in this verse. How are the two concepts different? How are they the same? How does your understanding of those words shift when they are placed within the context of Haiti's history and current events?

Up to this point in the poem, the speaker has been discussing their own actions and feelings and contextualizing those I-action statements with reflection on ancestry, colonialism, and assimilation. After the word SCATTERED notice how the individual "I" shifts, as does the demographic being addressed by the poem. From here on out the reader needs to understand that the diasporic community expands beyond the borders of Haiti and includes all Black diasporic communities suffering under the legacy of the slave trade.

"The Haitian Revolution has often been described as the largest and most successful slave rebellion in the Western Hemisphere. Slaves initiated the rebellion in 1791 and by 1803 they had succeeded in ending not just slavery but French control over the colony. The Haitian Revolution, however, was much more complex, consisting of several revolutions going on simultaneously. These revolutions were influenced by the French Revolution of 1789, which would come to represent a new concept of human rights, universal citizenship, and participation in government." Read more here: https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/haitian-revolution-1791-1804/ Haitian Revolution (1791-1804) * Global African History *The Haitian Revolution has often been described as the largest and most successful slave rebellion in the Western Hemisphere. Slaves initiated the...Blackpast

Taken with the preceeding lines, which ennumerate the living legacies of transatlantic slave trade, one could argue that in this instance, 'fitting' is a verb referencing the lens through which Black people and their physical bodies are viewed and treated in the diaspora. Consider 'fitting' defined as the action of fitting something, as in the "installing, assembly, or adjustment of machine parts," (Oxford Dictionary). Consider brainwashing, kidnapping, murder, genocide as levers through which the "machine parts" or enslaved people, could be (and Flo argues, still are) adjusted to better serve the status quo.

Note the pattern of I-actions followed by contextualizing reflection: I scream // reflection on ancestry I call myself // reflection on colonialism and assimilation I say // reflection on how ancestry and colonialism converge in the speaker and her actions. Setting this pattern and creating this argument paves the way for the concluding verses, where we lose the "I" entirely. The rhythm of this pattern also calls to mind the call and response style of community dialogue so popular throughout the Caribbean and Africa.

French etymology

French etymology

French etymology

French etymology

French etymology

French etymology

French etymology