Abstract
Though the Haitians finally freed themselves of the Duvalier dynasty in February 1986, the country's future remains uncertain. A National Council of Government is trying to channel the effervescence of political, press and intellectual activity into a democratic system which Haiti has not known for decades. Generations of Haitian writers have been forced to go to France, Canada or the United States to publish their work freely. One of their leading poets, René Depestre, has now settled in Paris after almost thirty years in exile. In 1982 he published a collection of short stories, Alléluia pour une Femme-Jardin (Gallimard) from which this story is taken.