Léon-Gontran Damas

Léon-Gontran Damas is considered one of the three leaders of the Négritude movement in Francophone literature. Influenced by the poets of the Harlem Renaissance, the aim of the Négritude poets was to debunk the myth of European cultural superiority. In 1937, Damas lit the Francophone world on fire when he published Pigments, a collection of poems that became a rallying cry for the colonized and oppressed. The following poems are excerpted from Graffiti, a collection published in 1952, which continues Damas' discussion of the reprecussions of colonization on a more intimate level.

Published on 07/16/2004

        when without knocking
        she opens
        enters
        unlike
        anyone else
        ever

        when without knocking
        she opens
        enters
        unlike
        anyone else
        ever

        still waiting
        for hours
        long hours
        whistling
        always the same mad tune

        standing
        against the misty window pane
        reached by
        heavy noise
        odors of a day that will soon come to a close

        AIMER TOUT COMME HIER

        que sans frapper
        elle ouvre
        entre
        comme
        jamais personne
        d’autre

        c’est encore attendre
        des heures
        de longues heures
        en sifflotant
        toujours le même air de fou

        debout
        contre la vitre embuée
        où montent
        le bruit lourd
        l’odeur du jour qui va bientôt finir

        --Translated by Kirsten Halling

Copyright © Léon-Gontran Damas, 2004. All Rights Reserved.