As Long as Trees Take Root in the Earth

Here comes the reign of men draped in lies a new Sisyphus mired in resentment just like apocalyptic beetles condemned to roll shit as far away as the next bank now we find that a wicked word marked by its harmful seed grows on the innocence of our future watch out by the light of dawn for the fatal moment when masks will fall and we will see colonies of hares ears erected false prophets summon Diop who remains to be read false prophets summon Fanon who remains to be read false prophets summon Césaire who remains to be read but here is the grand mountain proud of her height here is the mountain of the soul, that silent caretaker of immensity here is the mountain that has remained silent for centuries it only asks for a bit of blue sky an always-green grass morning dew a herd grazing birds of all species singing let’s ask the stone where to find Truth it will tell us that it is in this world and here only it is in this world where wind blows where oceans twist and turn where waterways split it is in this world where a dream steps over borders perforates invisible walls since the dawn of time mankind has thought of itself as the superior species while all day long the tree laughs take from earth’s depth the nectar of its wisdom swing its branches to signal victory to remain human until the end as long as trees take root in the earth Translation from the French By Rokiatou Soumaré As Long as Trees Take Root in the Earth by Alain Mabanckou To honor Mabanckou on the occasion of his visit to the University of Oklahoma, six graduate students from OU’s Department of Modern Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics—Alex Stewart, Christine Tomte, Fabrice Conte, Hannah Johnson, Hichame Naciri, and Rokiatou Soumaré—translated Mabanckou’s 2003 poem, “Tant que les arbres s’enracineront dans la terre.” The following stanzas conclude the poem. above A collage of two images by Alex Majoli, created by Daria Birang. Courtesy of Cherry Trees Gallery (Megève, France). WORLDLIT.ORG 67

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