Dances of Yesterday - Antoine Abel

I still hear the staccatos

The extension of the sounds of the drums

The drums from the old days

My son - Matthew Fakaia

 you my son

        you whiteman now

bring me no more ia

        no more here

Total independence (National Anthem) - Alda Neves da Graça do Espírito Santo

Total independence,

Glorious song of the people,

Total independence,

Sacred hymn of combat.

Deus ex Machina - José Mármol

Throw the dice, Lord, your turn has come and it is winter. The trident is cornered, the mountains covered with a skin of ash.

Must Never Be In Vain - Dillon Ollivierre

When your voice 

And your choice 

Is being undermined 

By men with no spine 

Then you know, it’s time to rise up

No longer can you be laid back, no longer can you simply look on

The sacrifices our ancestors made 

The blood, the sweat and tears 

Must never be in vain

Rain - Makerita Va’ai

Rain, symbolic of a loss

of friend or foe

an ally or enemy

Where did you come from - Ana Istarú

Where did you come from,
sleeping man.
What cloud dropped you,
what caravel.

Oh My Beloved Land - Telstar Jimmy

Beyond the wide horizon

Lies my home, my country

Of precious rainforests and peaceful woods;

Of portrait landscapes and productive gardens,

Oh My Beloved Land.

The sky - Filippo Ye

The sky offers hospitality to the clouds.

It is there where thunderstorms

and rainbows come.

It’s Not Love - Ryna.S.

If you love someone because he/ she is gorgeous…

that’s not love...

It’s Infatuation.

Moroni my princess - Soeuf Elbadawi

Moroni, my princess

with poor feet,

catches a cold and gets drunk on

bad weather days

General! - Dadolin Murak

General!

We didn’t know

The dark affair of 30 September 1965

When you came

We were indoctrinated by your false history:

Cutting genitals

Slashing with razors, gouging out eyes

Joined the communist cavorting at Lubang Buaya9

Dawn of my manhood - Ueantabo Fakaofo

The years of Childhood have ended, 

The constellation Rimwimata’¹ is up in the skies 

Twinkling on the whole island at rest 

Laying in bed tossing and wakeful I waited for dawn 

Untitled - Manal Al-Adawi

We must wake up,

We must burn hatred and turn the page,

Let us hold our hands together and walk towards the awakening.

News Of My Mother - Jean Baptiste Tati-Loutard

I am now very high upon the tree of the seasons;

Far below I see the firm earth of the past.

Pre-Naivasha Days - Emmanuel Monychol

We used to fight flies and heat
In the bullet ridden grass thatched huts,
We lived in the hope of milk and honey.

A Woman - Yeng Chheangly

I saw her 

In a dirty face,

She carried,

Many bricks on her shoulder,

Sonnet XXXIV: Recognition of the world's vanity - Francisco de Aldana

At last, at last, with so much time spent dying,

and with so many turns of life and fate,

so many times to every folly flying

with hopes to grasp it all, always too late,

Jakïp dreams about Manas - Anonymous

"Until Manas reaches the age of twelve,

Until he grows into manhood,

Achieves the stature of a brave man,

And takes a spear in his hand

Inspired - Johanna Schouten-Elsenhout

Ancestors,

sing it to the priests

in the open yard

The Vision - Armando Rojas Guardia

Unobstructed, the building

suspends itself in the still

timid light of dawn.

I, environment - Djeri Wapondi

I, environment I moan, I agonize

By compassion, the ozone layer reddens, roars and shatters.

To save me and to save you,

listen and write down this ordinance and recommendation

for such evil is its remedy and action.

Being a Palauan - Hermana Ramarui

Palauan, not a thing,

But a state of being,

Ode (from Job) - Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov

O man! whose weakness dares rebel 
Against the Almighty's strength, draw nigh 
And listen, for my tongue shall tell 
His message from the clouded sky. 
Midst rain, and storm, and hail, he spoke,
Around the piercing thunder broke; 
At his proud word the clouds disperse, 
And thus he shakes the universe:

 

The Blues - Léon Damas

Give back my black dolls

that they can dispel

the image of wan whores

selling love and promenading

on the boulevard of my ennui

Jobs - Mubarak Ouassat

The platanus tree

That grows suddenly in the middle of the room

Bend on me

Like a beloved

I will care for it in my turn

Because I was once

A gardener...

I remember now my past because astonishment

Grows in front of my patient eyes

Because tonight's mysteries lock my eyelids

Thamyris to her Roses - Götz

'Twas the promise of my lover 

Ere you blossomed to appear. 

Grounded - Kathy Jetñil-Kijiner

Anchor yourself outside her room. A jaki
to sleep on, a cooler for drinks. Hands flexed
and prepared to ground her in this life.

A Leader’s Vision - Fawziya al Maskiry

From under the shade of a tree
He said we can learn
Old and young
Our Country’s future is his concern.