This is my country rising
With the sun's luminous fist
And its voice trumpeted the truth of times
The ears opened out
The eyes saw the nourishing word
It sings Péyi la sé tan nou
And the leaves respond in unison
To the song of its dew
Men and women walk with an even step
Sing in even voice
The drums cross the street
They carry the beautiful weather on their shoulders
They illuminate life despite the agony of shadows
The young came to unearth their dreams
Country risen
Country cleansed
Looking forward to the tenderness of tomorrow
ln revolt against greed
Between anger and love
Opening its roots like a new hand
Reconciled with its cry
And its harvest of stars
Out of the torpor of mangroves
The immobility of powerless statues
My rose at once
With a single breath of forbidden tornado
With a single wave of ripening memory
Country risen
Country cleansed
And it said Enough
Let Guadeloupe through
Ernest Pépin (born 1950) Guadeloupe
Translated by Hélène Cardona
Source: Resistencia: Poems of Protest and Revolution edited by Mark Eisner and Tina Escaja, Tin House Books, 2020
Péyi la sé tan nou - This country is our time (Creole)
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