Poems in The Memory Thread, An English-Chinese Anthology
I am honored to be included in The Memory Thread, an English-Chinese Anthology that features the poems of the Greek poet, Vasiliki Dragouni, the Twainese poet, William Marr, and myself. The book consists of 134 pages. I am grateful that the publisher of Edizioni Universum, Giovanni Campisi, Italy, thought me worthy of inclusion.
Memory is
the faculty of the mind by which data or information is encoded, stored, and
retrieved when needed. It is the retention of information over time for the
purpose of influencing future action; an image or impression of one that is remembered (Merriam-Webster). A thread is a theme or characteristic running throughout a situation or piece of
writing.
As a writer, I enjoy weaving stories, poetry, and personal essays from memories that hug me, hold on to me and refuse to depart. They are in my cultural DNA, personal experiences from childhood to adulthood, and my travels to different Caribbean islands and continents. They include impressions as insignificant as a passing face, the sound of a sluggish or rushing river, the sound of crushing leaves under my feet, and the smell and taste of traditional food that stay with me.
In this anthology, each writer brings particular memory threads in their paintings done with words. Each writer has his/her own style of interpreting memory. I cannot share all 134 pages but here are three samples of each poet’s poems.
Vasiliki Dragouni was born in Athens. She has studied English Literature, and European Comparative Literature and has a Master’s Degree in International and European Studies. She works in aviation. She has published seven collections of poetry: “Flight to the Light”, “Moon in Scorpio”, “Landscapes of Being”, “By Instinct”, “Everything you thought”, “Red Ink” and “Phenotype”. She has also published the collection of flash fiction stories “Red is worn upon the heart”, the collections of stories “Convex Mirrors” and “Cracks in the Facade”, as well as the micro-novel “The other woman”. Her latest book of short stories and poems is titled "A horizon line" and was translated into Greek, English, Italian, German, and French.
THE CORE OF
THE STORY
How many wandering thoughts
excite
touch keyboards, wedge pens,
iPads or clay tablets?
History can be re-told
the characters recasted,
the main components replaced.
The memory is still, however
the core of the narrative,
the Phoenix that rose from the
ashes.
BEYOND THOUGHTS
What lies beyond thoughts?
The usual day -
the murmur of deadline,
the wallpaper of harsh colors,
shared responsibilities of
everyday life,
small miracles, joys, sorrows.
The sore mug of fantasy
it is undoubtedly half full
but ideas are life force
pouring out in rain-soaked
profusion.
The cup remains forever endless.
THE CHANGE OF SEASONS
A spider defines the
dimensions of the balcony
decisive in its natural
momentum
towards stereotypical patterns,
sharing her small contribution
in the grand scheme of things,
as the fly caught in her web
performs its own dubious
function in the world.
It is an inconvenient truth
that we live to die.
Synthesis of life and death
expressed
in the change of seasons, in
the fullness of time.
Winter is just performing its
task.
William Marr, born in 1936 in Taiwan, came to America in 1961 as a graduate student and received his Ph.D. degree in nuclear engineering from the University of Wisconsin in 1969. After working in energy and environmental systems research for many years, he retired in 1996 to devote his full time to writing. He has published over 30 books of poetry in Chinese, English, bilingual (Chinese/English), multilingual (Chinese/English with French and Italian translations), and Korean translation. He is a former President of the Illinois State Poetry Society and the holder of two-lifetime achievement awards, including one from the Marquis Who's Who Publications Board. In 2019, he was awarded the 60th Literary Award from Taiwan's Chinese Literature and Art Association. In recent years, he has also engaged in painting and sculpting and has held several art exhibitions in America and China. In 2016, in celebration of his 80th birthday, his sons, Dennis and Alvin, together with their wives, set up the William W. Marr Scholarship for Creative Writing in the College of Letters & Science of the University of Wisconsin-Madison
THIS
BUTTERFLY
carrying on her back
the most
beautiful masterpiece
produced
since the beginning of time
she flies in bright
sunshine
from one
flower
to another
making the
dazzling world
a moving art
museum
admission
free
KISSING
1
both trying so hard
to suck out
the words
that neither dares
to utter
first
2
it
makes no difference
your
lips kissing my lips
or
my lips kissing yours
what
important
is
that we still have something to say
to
each other
and
try to say it
well
AT THE DINNER
TABLE
bloated by the news
of famine in
Ethiopia
the stomach
must now digest
a TV
commercial
of delicious
cat food
cholesterol free
Born in Antigua, West Indies, Althea
Romeo-Mark is an educator and writer who grew up in St. Thomas, US Virgin
Islands. She has lived and taught in St. Thomas, US, Virgin Islands,
Connecticut and Ohio, USA, Monrovia, Liberia, West Africa, London, England, and
in Basel, Switzerland since 1991. Her
short stories, personal essays, and poems reflect her life experiences and cultural
influences inherited from her Caribbean roots.
Althea Romeo Mark is the
author of two full-length poetry collections, The Nakedness of New and
If Only the Dust Would Settle, (English-German), and four chapbooks, Beyond Dreams: The Ritual
Dancer, Two Faces, Two Phases, Palaver and Shu-Shu Moko Jumbi: The Silent Dancing Spirit. Althea
Romeo Mark’s upcoming publication, On the Borders of Belonging, will be published in the of summer 2023.
Awards and prizes includeThe Arts and Science Poetry Prize for poems published in POEZY 21:Antologia Festivaluluiinternational Noptile De Poezie De Curtea De Arges, Romania; the Marguerite Cobb McKay Prize, The Caribbean Writer for her short story “Bitterleaf,” in Volume 22; short story prize for “Easter Sunday,” Stauffacher English Short Story Competition in Switzerland, Poetry Award for the poem “Ole No-Teeth Mama,” Cuyahogo Community Writers Conference, Ohio, USA and, a Scholarship Award from Breadloaf Writers’ Conference, Middlebury College, Vermont, USA.
Photoshoot
We stand on a stairway,
our places dictated by height.
We are not posing for Elle or Ebony.
My visit from afar
to a cousin’s house,
has gathered us together—
the offspring of a no-longer feared granny.
Gran is always a topic when we meet.
In our words, our writing,
we admire her brazenness,
crave her boldness.
We want her fighting spirit,
not the fighter.
We want to box with her words.
So we pose, the carriers of her genes,
walk down memory lane
talk about the island life shared with her.
We take her stories with us,
still alive, still kicking.
Getting
to Know You.
You
didn’t tell me
getting
to know you
would
be peeling an onion.
You
didn’t tell me
that
the slow stripping away
of
layers would cause so much tears.
You
didn’t tell me
discovering
the real you
would
be disappointing,
heart-breaking.
You
didn’t tell me
the
core of you
would
be dark rot.
What the River Steals
I do not speak of bodies
stolen by the river gods,
snagged from swirling
vortexes,
grabbed from capsized boats,
or trapped in quicksand.
Nor do I speak of branches
bits of broken bridges,
driftwood,
household furnishings,
plastics bottles,
the odds and ends, collected
after flood.
I speak of things we see but cannot
hold,
things reflected by nature’s
spectrum of color,
playthings of the gods of sky
and water.
The river is a thieving
magician
that steals the blues,
oranges,
yellows of the heavens,
the rainbows of the sky,
swipes the green of grass and
trees,
the white and grey of stones,
the brown of riverbanks,
the yellow, red, purple, pink of
flowers.
Then in its swirling, rippling
magical mirror,
it shares, not a replication,
but its interpretation of what
it has run off with.
It makes an abstraction that
snares our eyes.
We look on in wonder,
bedazzled,
enchanted by the river’s stolen
beauty.
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