A Shittyplace Poem by Jan Oskar Hansen

A Shitty Place

I remember a novel by Graham Greene "The consul" I think,
it was a hard time for the little man under the regime of Doc Duvalier
I was in Port au Prince, its capital and it was a shitty place helped by the USA.
I was a chief steward on a liner but was too scared by the routine brutality
that hung over the city like a cloud of a toilet not flushed. It was totally corrupt,
agents, guards and the dreaded Tonton Macute demanding
whisky and cigarette, I had an intense dislike of the people in power.
It was a shithole then kept like that by the USA who feared that a socialist
the party could take power bring peace and equality; well Duvalier
has gone but the stench from that time still hangs over the country
and will continue to do so as long as it suits the USA.