Translated by Jeff Florentiny.
I don’t want to forget
I cannot forget
The everlasting burnt of history
From Gore to Fort de France…
I forgot the country from where I’ve come
I don’t know the country from they’ve come
But my soul still keeps the rolling
Of too long a journey
A journey when the sea wasn’t just blue sea
I forgot the shores from where I’ve come
I still don’t know the country where I live
And when I say her name
She forgets to vibrate
As vibrates the name
Of someone who loves you
Of someone who you love
I forgot
I don’t know
But sometimes
The moaning of bamboos
Speak of the country of yesteryear
The rumor from the cane fields
Stealthily slips into my heart
And secretly whispers
The bush name of this here country
And the song of the sea
Dares to say that one day
This country will be mine
I don’t want to forget
Know not to forget
But I do not water
The grass of hatred
And my heart bridges the gap
Between the country of yester year
And the country of today
Yes my heart bridges the gap
Between the country of them, the country of yesteryear
And the country of here now.