Salle Sainte Cecile

I stored away all your letters
It`s been years since they've been read
Now I long for the tiniest description
of the time that we had
You said you've aged so much
to find me just as I was then
Now I`m looking at pictures I don`t recognize
Places that are only in the past
On Thursday you fly down from Boston
so on Thursday I will write
To the children of Sainte Trinity
To the people and their plight
On Friday I`ll send my whole heart
from Allmend to Port au Prince
and ask the world to give their attention
to the people who need their music
Twenty seconds on the twelfth
the work of fifty years or more
Salle Sainte Cecile
reduced to rubble on the floor
The Sisters of St Margaret
The letters of Reverend Cesar
A hall that gave a nation its music
is no more
I call to Dominique in my sleep
I dream of walking between the tents
The residents are safe and sleeping
Quiet is the land
You write of wounded reunions
You write of the plans
You sent me a piece of the old school
to hold in my hands
Twenty seconds on the twelfth
the work of fifty years or more
Salle Sainte Cecile
reduced to rubble on the floor
The Sisters of St Margaret
The letters of Reverend Cesar
A hall that gave a nation its music
will live on
Roman Catholic Episcopal Protestant and Voodoo
All implored together in God's name
The social barriers had also fallen
We worked with hammers and hands
So many people hungry
without a tent in the rain
Even the people who have a good house
are afraid they're afraid