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A Celebration of Student Poetry
INTRODUCTION BY EVA ACQUI
Poetry written by youth in Liberia situates itself
between two poles: one of warrior-like power, with a
strong tone, predominantly questioning, urging, asking
for a better future, and a meditative pole, where
mango leaves sway in the breeze. The religious tone is
also present, and reading some of the poems is like
listening to the singing and praying in Monrovia's
churches before the war, during sermons when God was
freely walking in the air . . .
The African spirit/consciousness expresses itself with
full force, loudly and proudly, like a drumbeat.
Some of the verses tend to define with clarity values
dear to their writers: love, faith, patriotism, quest,
thirst for knowledge, education, peace, African
spirit, hope for a better future, in one word, the
vision of a better future, not only for them, but for
Mother Africa too.
Concerning the poetic form, the poems display variety:
some are made up of long verses, with solid text
blocks, attempting to detail the poet's feeling and
reactions to the world or its impulses, other poems
are short, meditative, definition-like, attempting a
strange accuracy of the notion and feelings they capture.
We should encourage their talent by reading their
writings, by identifying with the feelings and reactions
they express, so that we stimulate them to search for
knowledge and refine their means of expression, with
the hope that they will become the artists of their
nation, which needs powerful voices to shape its
culture and youth, in which its brighter future
stands.
Monrovia Consolidated School System (MCSS) Student Poetry
Jacqueline D. Allison
Loneliness
I worked my way through the desert;
the sun shone over my head and
sweat rolled down my body.
I looked in front,
the road seemed to have no end.
I felt discouraged, I thought about you,
and smiles covered my face.
I turned to the wind to hear encouragement,
The wind flew and loneliness took over
and I couldn’t hear you.
I continued my journey, my legs felt weak,
the dust covered my body.
I sneezed because of the dust I inhaled.
My eyes were weak because of sleepless nights
I had had.
I looked weary and deserted.
Then I thought about your protective hands,
the ways they both picked me up when I fell,
and the way you helped me lift up my head high.
I looked up to see those hands,
but I saw only loneliness filling the air,
stopping me from getting to you.
Oh! How terrible you are . . .
You make the world empty,
and me feel deserted.
You keep me wandering all day.
How terrible you are . . .
Get out of my life, and the life of others,
At a distance,
so I can have loving friends again.
Joseph T. Borbor
This World of Wars
Oh, this world of wars,
this wonderful world,
with problems and hard times,
because of power, greed, and riches . . .
Lying in my bed,
I imagine that great bloodshed
of women, men, and children,
because of the fight for power
all over the world
This great world,
Where leaders fight for power,
Enjoy the pleasure of this world,
Forgetting the love for God,
Who has created all things
in this wonderful world
Oh, this world of wars
From east to west problems,
From north to south wars,
From west to east problems,
From south to north wars,
Everywhere wars and problems . . .
Oh, this world of wars,
From country to country problems and wars,
From city to city problems and wars,
From corner to corner problems and wars.
Oh, this world of wars,
Innocent women, men, and children, all victims,
In innocence slaughtered
Everywhere in the streets,
They are cornered by fear,
Gnawing at their timid hearts . . .
Oh, in this world of wars,
where can they find refuge?
Where can they be safe?
Patience Bryant
Be Careful Children
Be careful children,
Be careful of your world!
There are so many
people around us today,
Some are good, and some are bad,
Some give you candy to take you away.
Be careful children of the person you follow,
Watch them like your eyes.
Just be careful children,
Just be careful.
Hawa Dolobuipu
Mournful Beams
Where I sit
so cold and lonely
like a wound longing to heal
I sit and watch the stars
unfolding from the sky
so easily and calmly
And I wonder why they beam
so lazily and calmly.
Then when morning comes
I know just the right answer:
The stars were mourning,
mourning calmly and easily,
because, by day,
They will melt.
Reasons
The words in this poem seemed big to
those who understand not.
This poem is saying that God loves us.
He forgives us if we tell him we’re sorry.
When we go astray, he leads us out of it. He
loves because he made us whether black or
white, rich or poor, good or bad . . .
and if God can do these things, since God
loves us to this extent, then, He is the best
God of gods in creation.
Orita Harding
A Whisper to the Rain
Under a plum tree I sat
to begin my poetry writing,
and no idea seemed to flow
as I sat lonely.
A little rain drizzled
and the rain began to fall.
I felt mocked by the rain,
but I held my patience.
And whispered to the rain
to give me chance to write,
and the clouds suddenly smiled,
and the weather became warm.
Pride For My Country
When the flag is put up
It stands attentive
With special pride
Pride for my country
I stand with this pride
To pledge my loyalty
To my country
She is my special pride
I stand to sing
My country’s National Anthem
So joyfully I sing it
With that, my country’s pride
Deona Harris
I Want to Fly
When I look at the sky
The sky looks blue and white
When I look
On the other side
I see little birds flying
They look so happy
As they fly in the clouds
I want to fly up in the sky
So high to touch the sun
To see the colors of the rainbows
That I see in the sky
I want to fly to touch it
I want to fly in the sky
To see the clouds
moving up and down
Joyce Holmes
Peaceful Africa
Long before he came
to start his funny game,
this place we knew was quite bright.
Every village in this Africa,
Quiet as the bright night,
he took away every brave man
and partitioned our land.
It became sorrowful.
Yet, Africa remained peaceful . . .
He started another game,
he called it democracy,
to replace aristocracy.
This took so many lives,
We were dying by fires!
Yet, Africa remained peaceful . . .
The independence game was flashed,
Africans all over dashed,
For control of their lands.
Then no peace was at hand,
This peaceful land we knew
Was no longer so.
Patrice D. Juah
Education, I Cherish You
Education, you are like a golden sword
In a warrior’s hands
That always keeps him victorious.
Education I cherish you.
You are a precious stone
That one cannot throw away
But keeps gazing at
Beholding its mysterious beauty
Education I cherish you.
You have made me to stand up
Like a heroine against the rough
disastrous hands of ignorance
Education, I cherish you
The well of knowledge is deep
It’s the bucket we bring to it.
Mine is small
Through education I have discovered
What is true?
And Patrice, what is good
I’ve seen and numbered the stars
Through education
Education, don’t you ever leave my side
I need you in this world to walk
Through life’s tremendous journeys
Education, I really cherish you.
Grace Swen
I Am An African Child
I’m an African child
Who can read and write
And I like to make new friends
I like the place I live
I like the place I learn
I like my African food
I like my African dresses
I like my African culture
I like my African family
All I know is, I like to be an African child
The Old House
I saw an old house,
on hilly ground,
That was empty like an empty drum.
I was afraid and thought it was a witch house.
I screamed and screamed,
But it was just an
ordinary empty house.
Elyn Wright
Awake, Mother Africa
Awake, awake
Oh, mother Africa,
Awake from your slumber!
Close not your eyes,
Your nations are fallen apart,
They set boundaries among themselves,
And they reap tribalism!
Awake, mother Africa,
Not war or bloodshed,
But justice and peace we need!
Awake, awake, mother Africa!
Copyright © Liberian Association of Writers
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