my mother looks towards me like a tired mountain.

Mountains are very special in Haitian culture, in fact Ayiti means Land of Mountains. This piece resonates across my ancestry as I become older and see myself grow into a Haitian woman who has had to endure hardship just like my mother. Together, we become the mountains that our country adores but may take for granted at times. We are the places in which people find refuge- from as long ago as Marooners and runaway slaves to locals who see their journeys as everyday commutes to Pétion-ville. We are the places in which labor is extracted and tirelessly provides without complaint. We are the providers with little recognition. The strikingly beautiful and heartbreaking stoicism of the mountains of Haiti are what I see in my mom and I try to capture that in this poem. This poem is in homage of her and any other Caribbean woman who feels like a mountain.

my mother looks towards me like a tired mountain.

wrinkles and ravines rest in her palms

as wind sighs in her shudders, soothing and calm

my mother looks towards me like a tired mountain.

skinny paths of legs and arms

children climb her body with little charm

my mother looks towards me like a tired mountain.

her earth cracked by the beating sun

her cheeks sagged from the heavy brunt

my mother looks towards me like a tired mountain.

snowy tops with silver hairs

few have reached to kiss her there

my mother looks towards me like a tired mountain.

aging time and rapid lines

I feel my body solidify

I look towards her- a tired mountain.

I feel my soul rumble

 an earthquake within a chest 

stampedes of wildebeests run wild

in the valley where we rest

My mother and I, two tired mountains

holding and releasing a world in one breath.

A photo of my mom being held up by her mom in the mountains of Haiti. | Photo source: Tatianna Dugué

About the Author

Tatianna Dugué is a Haitian-American queer spiritual poet. When she's not writing out her ineffable feelings she is helping others treat theirs as a psychologist-in-training. You can find her creative pursuits and updates about her upcoming poetry anthology on IG: @yourgirlcreating and https://tatiannadugue.github.io/PersonalProjects.html