A Touch of Salt on My Confession

Abdourahman A. Waberi
Translated from the French by Nancy Naomi Carlson

They come to see meThey ask me for the seaAlgae and fishUnlike Jesus I have no giftFor self-deprecationI stay hereHead down writing page after pageLonely prophetFor company I haveCats and geraniumsWithout warning they leave with misery between their legsAnd for the first timeA blood of ink has me by the throatIn the flux and flow of the coming tomorrowsI’ve only one thing to doTame the whale of the unknownNot easySince childhood I’ve limped slightly like OedipusSame eclipse on the pin or is it the contracted Achilles’ heelThe cavernous tibia bones, the calf thin as a fillet making meLie down underMy grandmother’s boubouI lack muscle and breathAnd pass through the rift of the presentMeet others against their willOr by chance, join the danceIgnore the devil going round and round above my headEven as a kidI ran away from the packThe law of tyrantsThe Machiavellis in the sandboxesI often lose myselfSometimes I find myselfAnd this time the naked eye seesThrough the reeds of the thick nightFlesh if cornered too many timesEnds up bitingThere are daysWhen the voiceless end upSpeaking under the weight of contemptAs we know, no worse torture exists

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Abdourahman A. Waberi, born in Djibouti, is considered a major voice in African postcolonial studies. He has received a multitude of awards and honors, including a PEN France prize, and, most recently, a medal from the Académie française. Waberi has been a visiting professor in such countries as France, Germany, Austria, and the United States. Since 2012, he has been a Professor of French and Francophone Studies at The George Washington University, Washington, DC.

Nancy Naomi Carlson, author of five titles and eleven books of translations, won the 2022 Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize. Her poetry and translations have been noted in the New York Times. A recipient of two National Endowment for the Arts translation grants and France’s Order of Academic Palms, she is the Translations Editor for On the Seawall. Her translation of French-Senegalese writer Sylvie Kandé’s Gestuary (Seagull Books) arrives in Spring 2026.

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When We Only Have the Earth
University of Nebraska Press

Lincoln, Nebraska

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In this ode to the earth and all its living creatures, French Djiboutian poet, novelist, and essayist Abdourahman A. Waberi sounds the alarm about our imperiled planet, where “the Sahel rises in you, in me / the Red Sea boils in you, in me / Nunvut is melting in you, in me.” This translation by Nancy Naomi Carlson preserves the rich musicality of the original French, as well as its frequent use of wordplay and often unusual word choice.

Waberi, a nomad at heart, takes us on a whirlwind tour across North America, Africa, and Europe, daring us to love the earth “beyond all rational thought” and to “turn into earth, both literally and figuratively,” as we “turn from vanity, fears, and other pointless rustling.” These lyrical, playful, and moving poems urge us to look for the truth and beauty hidden in our daily lives, singing of Waberi’s own enduring love for our endangered planet and also, more forcefully, exhorting us to join him in the collective fight to save our planet from destruction.

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