Liberian Literary Magazine February Issue 0215
Diaspora Poet
At the Mercy of Gods
We come in waves . Our boats , tiny specks on dark , fathomless oceans .
Driven away by devouring drought , scattered by quakes , typhoons , cyclones , wars , we flee , fish in a storm .
Propelled by dreams , we would walk on water if miracles could be bought .
We are swallowed by sea gods demanding sacrifices . Our dreams are coveted by Agwé , Osiris , Poseidon who wish to conquer man and land .
Do the gods conspire ?
Jealous Wind and Sea pillage our crops withhold rain , wake Vulcan , fan his flames . Belligerent Mars whispers in man ’ s ear , demands he bathes in his brother ’ s blood .
Gods cackle at fleeing men . Ants in their eyes , they set howling death upon us .
Our exhausted Creator sleeps .
© Althea Mark-Romeo
Althea Romeo-Mark
Born in Antigua , West Indies , Althea Romeo-Mark is an educator and internationally published writer who grew up in St . Thomas , US Virgin Islands . She has lived and taught in St . Thomas , Virgin Islands , USA , Liberia ( 1976-1990 ), London , England ( 1990- 1991 ), and in Switzerland since 1991 .
She taught at the University of Liberia ( 1976- 1990 ). She is a founding member of the Liberian Association of Writers ( LAW ) and is the poetry editor for Seabreeze : Journal of Liberian Contemporary Literature .
She was awarded the Marguerite Cobb McKay Prize by The Caribbean Writer in June , 2009 for short story “ Bitterleaf , ( set in Liberia ).” If Only the Dust Would Settle is her last poetry collection .
She has been guest poets at the International Poetry Festival of Medellin , Colombia ( 2010 ), the
Kistrech International Poetry Festival , Kissi , Kenya ( 2014 ) and The Antigua and Barbuda Review of Books 10 th Anniversary Conference , Antigua and Barbuda ( 2015 )
She has been published in the US Virgin Islands , Puerto Rico , the USA , Germany , Norway , the UK , India , Colombia , Kenya , Liberia and Switzerland .
More publishing history can be found at her blog site :
www . aromaproductions . bl ogspot . com
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