{"id":1655,"date":"2014-10-06T10:37:58","date_gmt":"2014-10-06T15:37:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/?p=1655"},"modified":"2014-10-13T13:07:07","modified_gmt":"2014-10-13T18:07:07","slug":"poem-the-death-of-jean-claude-baby-doc-duvalier","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/2014\/10\/06\/poem-the-death-of-jean-claude-baby-doc-duvalier\/","title":{"rendered":"POEM: The Death of Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier"},"content":{"rendered":"

He was a Baby with a capital B<\/strong>
\nA ruler by which so many would be judged<\/strong>
\nHe was unjust<\/strong>
\nA child of 20<\/strong>
\nA President for life<\/strong>
\nA President for death<\/strong>
\nAs so many capriciously dyin’ with a king<\/strong>
\nAn entourage of automatic weapons and complimentary wine<\/strong>
\nDrunk with power<\/strong>
\nAs a prince of port<\/strong>
\nCelebrating fear<\/strong>
\nOf those his pathos cross<\/strong>
\nIn the company of thieves<\/strong>
\nA bout to meet their maker<\/strong>
\nIn the chaos of Haiti borne<\/strong>
\nI was just<\/strong>
\nA child of 10<\/strong>
\nWith a father doc of my own<\/strong>
\nStanding up like so many others<\/strong>
\nIn a sense wondering<\/strong>
\nWho had come before me<\/strong>
\nAnd what might fallow<\/strong>
\nOnly to depart so quickly<\/strong>
\nAs a pre-mature baby with terminal rashness<\/strong>
\nVainly hoping to reach ode age<\/strong>
\nGoon before we know it<\/strong>
\nAnd such is life<\/strong>
\nI dash to the winnow<\/strong>
\nLike a babe in the woulds<\/strong>
\nMirrorly site seeing<\/strong>
\nUnschooled in this deathly land escape<\/strong>
\nAs my mother<\/strong>
\nWithout peer<\/strong>
\nPulled me to her side<\/strong>
\nThat one side that fits awe<\/strong>
\nOnly hereafter to learn<\/strong>
\nIn do time<\/strong>
\nWith respects<\/strong>
\nTo wrest in peace<\/strong><\/p>\n

I wrote this poem this morning after hearing of the death of Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier, a former president of Haiti, much more aptly described as a brutal dictator.\u00a0 I was born in Haiti while my parents were serving there as medical missionaries with the Mennonite Central Committee.\u00a0 Our family returned to visit Haiti in 1971, soon after “Baby Doc” inherited the family dictatorship from his father, “Papa Doc.” This poem recounts an incident when we were dining in a restaurant in Port-Au-Prince, the capitol of Haiti, when “Baby Doc” came in for a meal.\u00a0 I was ten years old.\u00a0 All of the sudden, everyone in the restaurant stood up.\u00a0 And as is the etiquette in a foreign country, when everybody around you does something, follow suit.\u00a0 We stood up.\u00a0 “Baby Doc” and his entourage of guards armed with automatic weapons entered.\u00a0 The proprietors of the restaurant quickly prepared a few tables for them directly adjacent to our table.\u00a0 We were mere feet from three tables occupied by the president and his armed guards. Complimentary wine was ordered for all of the restaurant’s guests. Of course, I found all of this quite fascinating.\u00a0 They ate and left rather quickly, and I scurried to the window to capture yet more of this gawk-worthy event.\u00a0 My mom quickly and discreetly rounded me back up and pulled my away from the window.\u00a0 Only later did she share the worry that such behavior could be viewed as suspicious and perhaps dangerous.<\/p>\n

The death of Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier was experienced by countless Haitians who were murdered and disappeared.\u00a0 This morning there were probably relatively few Haitians mourning the death of this one man.\u00a0 May Haiti continue to recover from the death brought by his reign, among so many other troubles and challenges.\u00a0 The experiences of myself and my family in Haiti continue to give me a life-long perspective from which to work for justice and wrest in peace.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

He was a Baby with a capital B A ruler by which so many would be judged He was unjust A child of 20 A President for life A President for death As so many capriciously dyin’ with a king … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32,57,9,15],"tags":[294,442,385,428,589,462,725,402,359,770,62,509,454,448,354,658,94,110,530,489,502,529,380],"class_list":["post-1655","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-about-top-pun","category-peace","category-poems","category-political-and-philosophical-musings","tag-awe","tag-chaos","tag-death","tag-experience","tag-family","tag-fear","tag-haiti","tag-justice","tag-life","tag-mennonite","tag-mom","tag-mourning","tag-murder","tag-ode","tag-perspective","tag-poems","tag-poetry","tag-power","tag-president","tag-rage","tag-respect","tag-time","tag-work"],"yoast_head":"\nPOEM: The Death of Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier | About Top Pun, Peace, Poems, Political and Philosophical Musings | Top Pun's Poetry, Funny Puns, Free Posters, Public Health Radio Show! %<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"POEM: The Death of Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier, About Top Pun, Peace, Poems, Political and Philosophical Musings, Awe, Chaos, Death, Experience, Family, Fear, Haiti, Justice, Life, Mennonite, Mom, Mourning, Murder, Ode, Perspective, Poems, Poetry, Power, President, Rage, Respect, Time, Work Top Pun's Poetry, Funny Puns, Free Posters, Public Health Radio Show! %\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/2014\/10\/06\/poem-the-death-of-jean-claude-baby-doc-duvalier\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/2014\\\/10\\\/06\\\/poem-the-death-of-jean-claude-baby-doc-duvalier\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/2014\\\/10\\\/06\\\/poem-the-death-of-jean-claude-baby-doc-duvalier\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"POEM: The Death of Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-10-06T15:37:58+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-10-13T18:07:07+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/2014\\\/10\\\/06\\\/poem-the-death-of-jean-claude-baby-doc-duvalier\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":519,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/23524eae4bc27be85d1cdc01bc6d380e\"},\"keywords\":[\"Awe\",\"Chaos\",\"Death\",\"Experience\",\"Family\",\"Fear\",\"Haiti\",\"Justice\",\"Life\",\"Mennonite\",\"Mom\",\"Mourning\",\"Murder\",\"Ode\",\"Perspective\",\"Poems\",\"Poetry\",\"Power\",\"President\",\"Rage\",\"Respect\",\"Time\",\"Work\"],\"articleSection\":[\"About Top Pun\",\"Peace\",\"Poems\",\"Political and Philosophical Musings\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/2014\\\/10\\\/06\\\/poem-the-death-of-jean-claude-baby-doc-duvalier\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/2014\\\/10\\\/06\\\/poem-the-death-of-jean-claude-baby-doc-duvalier\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/2014\\\/10\\\/06\\\/poem-the-death-of-jean-claude-baby-doc-duvalier\\\/\",\"name\":\"POEM: The Death of Jean-Claude \\\"Baby Doc\\\" Duvalier | About Top Pun, Peace, Poems, Political and Philosophical Musings | Top Pun's Poetry, Funny Puns, Free Posters, Public Health Radio Show! %\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-10-06T15:37:58+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-10-13T18:07:07+00:00\",\"description\":\"POEM: The Death of Jean-Claude \\\"Baby Doc\\\" Duvalier, About Top Pun, Peace, Poems, Political and Philosophical Musings, Awe, Chaos, Death, Experience, Family, Fear, Haiti, Justice, Life, Mennonite, Mom, Mourning, Murder, Ode, Perspective, Poems, Poetry, Power, President, Rage, Respect, Time, Work Top Pun's Poetry, Funny Puns, Free Posters, Public Health Radio Show! %\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/2014\\\/10\\\/06\\\/poem-the-death-of-jean-claude-baby-doc-duvalier\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/2014\\\/10\\\/06\\\/poem-the-death-of-jean-claude-baby-doc-duvalier\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/2014\\\/10\\\/06\\\/poem-the-death-of-jean-claude-baby-doc-duvalier\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Blog HOME\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"About Top Pun\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/category\\\/about-top-pun\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"POEM: The Death of Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"Top Pun's Poetry, Funny Political Puns, Free Posters, Public Health Radio Show!\",\"description\":\"Top Pun's Pun-filled Stuff, Satire, and Public Health Science\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/23524eae4bc27be85d1cdc01bc6d380e\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":[\"Person\",\"Organization\"],\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/23524eae4bc27be85d1cdc01bc6d380e\",\"name\":\"Top Pun\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f78057fc29c98405f1474e223d51149b962df4af36cea20bf4ccbb189f621bb7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f78057fc29c98405f1474e223d51149b962df4af36cea20bf4ccbb189f621bb7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f78057fc29c98405f1474e223d51149b962df4af36cea20bf4ccbb189f621bb7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Top Pun\"},\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f78057fc29c98405f1474e223d51149b962df4af36cea20bf4ccbb189f621bb7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/TopPun.com\\\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"POEM: The Death of Jean-Claude \"Baby Doc\" Duvalier | About Top Pun, Peace, Poems, Political and Philosophical Musings | Top Pun's Poetry, Funny Puns, Free Posters, Public Health Radio Show! %","description":"POEM: The Death of Jean-Claude \"Baby Doc\" Duvalier, About Top Pun, Peace, Poems, Political and Philosophical Musings, Awe, Chaos, Death, Experience, Family, Fear, Haiti, Justice, Life, Mennonite, Mom, Mourning, Murder, Ode, Perspective, Poems, Poetry, Power, President, Rage, Respect, Time, Work Top Pun's Poetry, Funny Puns, Free Posters, Public Health Radio Show! %","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/2014\/10\/06\/poem-the-death-of-jean-claude-baby-doc-duvalier\/","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/2014\/10\/06\/poem-the-death-of-jean-claude-baby-doc-duvalier\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/2014\/10\/06\/poem-the-death-of-jean-claude-baby-doc-duvalier\/"},"author":{"name":"","@id":""},"headline":"POEM: The Death of Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier","datePublished":"2014-10-06T15:37:58+00:00","dateModified":"2014-10-13T18:07:07+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/2014\/10\/06\/poem-the-death-of-jean-claude-baby-doc-duvalier\/"},"wordCount":519,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/23524eae4bc27be85d1cdc01bc6d380e"},"keywords":["Awe","Chaos","Death","Experience","Family","Fear","Haiti","Justice","Life","Mennonite","Mom","Mourning","Murder","Ode","Perspective","Poems","Poetry","Power","President","Rage","Respect","Time","Work"],"articleSection":["About Top Pun","Peace","Poems","Political and Philosophical Musings"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/2014\/10\/06\/poem-the-death-of-jean-claude-baby-doc-duvalier\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/2014\/10\/06\/poem-the-death-of-jean-claude-baby-doc-duvalier\/","url":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/2014\/10\/06\/poem-the-death-of-jean-claude-baby-doc-duvalier\/","name":"POEM: The Death of Jean-Claude \"Baby Doc\" Duvalier | About Top Pun, Peace, Poems, Political and Philosophical Musings | Top Pun's Poetry, Funny Puns, Free Posters, Public Health Radio Show! %","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2014-10-06T15:37:58+00:00","dateModified":"2014-10-13T18:07:07+00:00","description":"POEM: The Death of Jean-Claude \"Baby Doc\" Duvalier, About Top Pun, Peace, Poems, Political and Philosophical Musings, Awe, Chaos, Death, Experience, Family, Fear, Haiti, Justice, Life, Mennonite, Mom, Mourning, Murder, Ode, Perspective, Poems, Poetry, Power, President, Rage, Respect, Time, Work Top Pun's Poetry, Funny Puns, Free Posters, Public Health Radio Show! %","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/2014\/10\/06\/poem-the-death-of-jean-claude-baby-doc-duvalier\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/2014\/10\/06\/poem-the-death-of-jean-claude-baby-doc-duvalier\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/2014\/10\/06\/poem-the-death-of-jean-claude-baby-doc-duvalier\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Blog HOME","item":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"About Top Pun","item":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/category\/about-top-pun\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"POEM: The Death of Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/","name":"Top Pun's Poetry, Funny Political Puns, Free Posters, Public Health Radio Show!","description":"Top Pun's Pun-filled Stuff, Satire, and Public Health Science","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/23524eae4bc27be85d1cdc01bc6d380e"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/23524eae4bc27be85d1cdc01bc6d380e","name":"Top Pun","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f78057fc29c98405f1474e223d51149b962df4af36cea20bf4ccbb189f621bb7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f78057fc29c98405f1474e223d51149b962df4af36cea20bf4ccbb189f621bb7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f78057fc29c98405f1474e223d51149b962df4af36cea20bf4ccbb189f621bb7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Top Pun"},"logo":{"@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f78057fc29c98405f1474e223d51149b962df4af36cea20bf4ccbb189f621bb7?s=96&d=mm&r=g"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/TopPun.com\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":""}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1655","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1655"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1655\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1673,"href":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1655\/revisions\/1673"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1655"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1655"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1655"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}