Maxette has climbed the phyllo tree

Raphaël Confiant

Obituary

Tuesday 20 October 2020.

When you hear her laugh, it is as if you have opened a door to another universe. Although she has suffered a lot in her life, she is full of joy.

We met once, at the airport in Rézé, it's so many years ago so I can not say exactly when, but I can not forget that day. She was with her husband Malte, a Swede who did not speak much, and we started discussing creolity together. She said to me "I am not a learned person but I understand very well what work you do. I am a Creole myself and I tell about you, your culture, your books, in my husband's country Sweden."

I was amazed for a while that day.

You tied your hair with a mattress fabric and you had an old-fashioned blouse that made you more beautiful than a sugar cane of feathers in December. We talked, talked, talked so much that we fell into laughter but we had not gone crazy. You tell me that the divinity of the world, on the planet, is Creole. To get all the people of the world to look for a way to come to an agreement instead of fighting all the time. And you kept telling me in French:

"I am an ambassador for Creole in Sweden."

Language exists for a reason: with the Internet you can give a lecture anywhere, in any country, you can write articles about the Caribbean and our Creole culture. You have just made a TV appearance where you tell that Swedish has also become your language just like Creole and French. Almost every week you make a video on Facebook to give us your news. You sing, dance, give us strength and courage to cope with life's difficulties.

Today I am sad Maxette, so sad that I can not even look at the sky to see if your face shines brighter than the sun itself. It's like a part of my soul torn apart. But I know one thing: your other country, Sweden, should give you respect for what you are worth …

Free translation of the article "MAXETTE MONTÉ AN FILAO" by Raphaël Confiant.
http://www.montraykreyol.org/article/maxette-monte...
http://www.potomitan.info/maxette/maxette.php

/Malte Olsson