The earth had stopped turning

Rehai II, by Wajid Aly. Image courtesy: ArtChowk

Poem to Assala Assale Luc

Translated from French by Grace Hetherington

you beat down on my head
like tropical rain
no! no –
            like a GIANT CLUB
            and
                I
                    staggered
                       on my
                           feet
                       I
                       HEAVYWEIGHT
                       of a thousand battles
                       I
                       the titan
                       who defies
                       the storm
            and
                I
                    staggered
                       on my feet

Oh!

            MAGISTRATE
            HOW CRUEL YOU ARE!
            a curse upon you

Despair
you visited me during that day
and the black night, without stars without moonbeams
without fireflies without future
you could cut it with a machete
like the night when my feet
lost their way behind
the village hut
I, who surrendered there beneath the cocoa trees
where the elephant rots
oh God in heaven
inky
            darkness
                    beat down on me

and you

            oh earth
            yes you oh earth
                    you had
                        stopped
                            turning

Oh!

            MAGISTRATE
            HOW CRUEL YOU ARE!
            a curse upon you

your voice rang out
like
            DYNAMITE
            splintering stones
            in a hollow

            and
              my
                legs
                    were
                      transformed
                        into
                          cotton

            WHEN YOU GAVE VOICE TO
            YOUR WORLD-ENDING WORDS

            and the earth
                    had stopped
                        turning

Oh!
            MAGISTRATE
            HOW CRUEL YOU ARE!
                a curse
                    upon you

~ Enoh Meyomesse 

Enoh Meyomesse is currently serving a seven-year prison sentence in Cameroon, on charges that are widely believed to be politically motivated. Meyomesse is President of the Cameroonian Writers’ Association, and has published 15 books, including poetry and essays of history and culture. He tried to stand for President in Cameroon in 2011, but was barred by the authorities. He is in ill-health, and conditions in Kondengui Prison, where he is being held, are appalling, but he has repeatedly been denied appeal hearings on his case. PEN International, the worldwide writers’ organisation, is campaigning for Enoh Meyomesse’s release and raising awareness of his case to mark the global Day of the Imprisoned Writer, which was on 15 November.

Grace Hetherington graduated from King’s College London in the summer of 2013 with a degree in French and English Literature. She spent six months as an intern English PEN, the founding centre of the international association of writers.

Editor’s note: This poem comes from ‘Jail Verse: Poems from Kondengui Prison’, written by Enoh Meyomesse in prison and translated and promoted by English PEN. You can download the full collection for free here. English PEN is petitioning for an appeal hearing for Enoh Meyomesse to go ahead on 20 November.