No Holding Back, Poems

By: aromaproductions on 1:16 AM

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Althea Romeo-Mark, Liberia 1978

Sentiments of A Time

Before I became who I am,

and journeyed to Liberia

before I had children,

at a time when Vietnam boiled and burned,

and napalm was dropped on the innocent

during another senseless war,

at a time when bereted Black Panthers

swore to defend each Black soul,

and Black was declared beautiful,

when the Nigerian Biafran War raged

and apartheid caught our attention,

and students howled against academic authority,

a friend declared it was not the moment

to bring children into a world so vile,

he would not produce any progeny.

Did he allow despair to dictate his future?

I now wonder forty odd years later.

Did he allow the world’s abominable state

to deprive him of his jewels?

Did the dividends of his sacrifice

pay off in a humane revolution?

Many today say the same.

I have learned that Man

has always been hell-bent.

The children I would not have had,

had I followed his wisdom

are now thirty-plus and

are bearing the next generation.

© Althea Romeo-Mark 08.12.15

Photo from Florida State University

Goats and Sheep 1970s

We set out to make the world right.

Our thoughts in the thrust of revolutions,

we join the cauldron of emotions.

Convinced we can change the world,

we march, are pushed along in a throng,

placards in hands, afroed and long-haired,

freshly schooled in the injustices of apartheid,

the fire that is Vietnam, the rebellion of Biafrans.

Some, empowered by the will to rein in all that is evil ,

volunteer in  communities, attempt to bring fairness

and equality to the poor, evolve into leaders.

Others overrun by the life’s demands,

bend to its will,  pass on the baton of righteousness

to the next generation.

© Althea Romeo-Mark   June 2009

 

First Designer

Let us be Eve

and search our groves

woods and forests

for leaves large enough

to cover us head to toe

with fronds of palm, coconut,

leaves of banana,  fig,

elephant ear and foxglove.

No need for sewing needles.

Vines are long and sturdy enough

to pass through holes,

to wrap round skirts and tops,

tie hats under chins and

hold woven palm slippers

on our feet.

We need not make patterns.

Leaves are ornamented by nature.

The endless choice of

hue, design and uniqueness,

the only cause of delay.

Adam will find us irresistible.

The Snake would admire

our inventiveness.

Jealousy though will still

seal our fate.

Temptation will lead us

 away from Eden’s Garden.

© Althea Romeo-Mark 2016 

The poem, First Designer was inspired by this photo.

Unforgotten

We, the salt and earth of the Caribbean,

children of new world contradictions,

carry African traditions like a secret child.

They are our Moses

hidden in the basket of bones and blood,

set adrift in our memory.

Ancestral spirits keep watch

as we sail down the river of time,

Althea Romeo-Mark 2016

Rainy Season Ride

The road now a river after a flood

we are driven through uncertain terrain.

We grip the shoulders of bus seats.

We are rocked, entrails rattled.

The bus becomes a raging bull we are sitting on

in a rodeo ride of life and death.

Breath held in suspense,

it is only in the moment that we live.

The vehicle is a tired animal

climbing out of a rampaging river

dragging us into the underworld.

We do not complain

about wet shoes and clothes

after near drowning.

Some, too numb,

cannot find their voice.

We cross ourselves,

praise God for the gift of life.

© Althea Romeo-Mark 2016

Hooked

The beady eyes in the preserved head

and the bushy tail had put me off at first.

They dress the collar of the classy coat.

But the dummy wears it well,

invites me to caress its finery.

I shut out visions of animals

trapped or clubbed to death,

to create the masterpiece.

Slipping it on, mustiness and mothball scent

fill my nose and I hear voices speak:

the white-gloved, old woman,

the heiress unwilling to be ambushed by PETA,*

the call-girl, with crow’s feet,

who pawned the mink to pay the rent,

the prostitute who had hocked it,

when given to her by a pimp.

The bell, announcing the arrival

of a new customer to the thrift shop

could not break the spell…

© Althea Romeo-Mark 2005

*PETA –People For the Ethical Treatment of Animal

 Uncoupling

This separation

is not an easy one.

It has been sanctioned by nature.

The running away of youth with time,

the distancing with decades tainted by folly

and growing pain, were destined.

This uncoupling.

is hard and heavy.

Restless youth estranges itself

from settled age.

There is no turning back.

© 29.04.2014 Althea Romeo-Mark

*Uncoupling-new expression for the process of separation or impending divorce was coined by Gwyneth Palthrow and her husband, Chris Martin of Coldplay in 2014

I hope you enjoyed these poetic reflections on nature's and our natural evolution or sometimes our regression.

Althea Romeo-Mark