Breaking the Silence

Patricia Jabbeh Wesley is a professor of English, creative writing, and African literature at Pennsylvania State University–Altoona. She immigrated to the United States with her husband and children in 1991, during the Liberian civil war. Wesley is the winner of the Levinson Prize from the Poetry Foundation and is the author of six collections of poetry, including Praise Song for My Children: New and Selected Poems, winner of the 2023 Theodore Roethke Memorial Poetry Prize; Becoming Ebony, a 2002 Crab Orchard Award winner; and When the Wanderers Come Home (Nebraska, 2016). She is a founder of Young Scholars of Liberia.

“This groundbreaking anthology takes us on an epic journey through Liberian poetry, from the past to the present. It is a surprising and fascinating read.”-Bernardine Evaristo, author of the Booker Prize–winning Girl, Woman, Other “This compendium of Liberian poetry put together by the visionary writer, teacher, and survivor of the civil war, Patricia Jabbeh Wesley, is an inspiring achievement. Gathering and curating the first-ever anthology of Liberian poetry, Wesley has made literary history and immeasurably enriched the literature of the region and the continent. The collection opens with her thoughtful introduction to this immense endeavor and then introduces readers to a broad library of poems, ranging from hard-to-source early work from the 1800s to some of the newest writing emerging from the country, nurtured into being in generative workshops run by Wesley in Monrovia. Her combination of archaeological research and mentorship of younger writers means that Breaking the Silence will stand as the definitive source on Liberian poetry for years to come.”-Gabeba Baderoon, author of The Dream in the Next Body

• AcknowledgmentsIntroductionPart 1. Early Liberian Poetry, 1800–1959Hilary TeageLand of the Mighty DeadHymnDaniel Bashiel Warner“All Hail, Liberia Hail,” Liberian National AnthemWishing to Be “21”Robert H. GibsonHeavenly Rest ImploredRise, Take Up Thy Bed and WalkSong of the First Emigrants to Cape PalmasAnonymousSt Paul’s River LiberiaPierreThe Emigrant’s HymnEdwin James BarclayThe Lone Star: A National SongTo Pauline—a FlirtTo LygiaTo Jealous LygiaHuman GreatnessAfric’s LamentThe Race-SoulThe Ocean’s RoarDawnSong of the HarmattanThe PastPart 2. Liberian Poetry, 1960–1989Rev. Father James David Kwee BakerO Maryland! Dear Maryland!Land of the BeautifulCavalla GrandOde to Cape MountDivine GuidanceRoland Tombekai DempsterIs This AfricaAfrica’s PleaThe Lone Star ShinesWhen You Die—a Philosophy of LifeThe Poet’s EarTake the World Away, but Give Me FreedomGo On and Do, Let the People TalkTo ManThe Pepper Bird Is SingingLiberia in Verse and SongH. Carey ThomasA Sonnet—the Poet’s SoulAsk Me WhyNo Longer YesterdayBecause You Told MeWhen You SighAt SunsetEchoes of a Longing HeartThe Tom-Toms Beat No MoreBai T. MooreEbony DustMonrovia Market WomenAfrica in RetrospectThe Legend of Shad TubmanA Wingless BirdMy AfricaThe BulldozerThe Hallelujah StuffYana BoysThe Strength of a NationKo Bomi hee m koaBa nya m go komaKona Khasu (James Roberts)Dear Patrice LumumbaOur Man on Broad StreetUnnamed ThingTheir Words—DeceptionTo Time Our EnemyThe Old StreamPart 3. Contemporary Liberian Poetry, 1990–PresentAlthea Romeo-MarkWho’s on Watch?Visiting KhufuOya (Wind in Cape Town)A Different Kind of Pied Piper 2020The Cat-Gods Have FallenPatricia Jabbeh WesleyPraise Song for My ChildrenNovember 12, 2015What Took Us to WarWhen Monrovia RisesI Want to Be the WomanBiography When the Wanderers Come HomeWe Departed Our Homelands and We CameAn Elegy for the St. Peter’s Church MassacreThey Want to Rise UpPittsburghMonrovia WomenI’m WaitingPart 4. Emerging and Aspiring Liberian PoetsBarth AkpahHarper Nedee?Oche Dike Ala (Grandma Has Gone)Jee-Won Mawein Esika ArkoiA WomanIfMy Mother’s TaleWatchen Johnson BabalolaWhile Tomorrow WaitsDivided We StandEdwin Olu BestmanNew Kru Town, Where I Come FromDarkness, the Surname of a Poor LoverHow to Write a Dirge for LiberiaEdward K. BoatengMemories of HomeCuring My Mother’s WoundGenealogy of the Fourteen Pieces of LiberiaMaybe I’ll Go HomeTetee Alexandra BonarHe Stole a Piece of MeChorlyn E. ChorIdentitySunny Eddie CrawfordYou Are MineWords in PortraitArthur Shedrick DaviesDeepu: A Definition of DivinityOrigins of the Poet Next DoorThis Is PoetryMaureen Jennifer DaviesFree MeEssah Cozett DiazOur Mother Is GoldWhen a Rolling Stone Leaves Pebbles BehindFor Daughters Who May Never Be MothersFor Women Who Are Water in Fields of RiceFrom Coal Pots to Gas StovesI Wasn’t Ready to Open My EyesMawata DukulyThe Brown BeautyWho Is a Leader?James Varney DwaluThe OppressedI Am Nothing (Neutrality)Cynthia Senu GailorWhere Were You?Daniel W. Garteh Jr.Quarantine in HopeCherbo GeeplayAfricaAloysius S. HarmonThe Diary of an OrphanPain as MetaphorWest Point, LiberiaRuby M. HarmonNah Fooh, Nah FoohGrey Stone BluesMother and DaughterQuita HarveyWe Need to Pass It OnLaurel IloaniOne World, One PeoplePatrice JuahThe Ebola RideAn Afro-MadrileÑa Love NoteMcChen A. D. KanneoEbony PerfectionJeremy Teddy KarnThe Making of GriefElegy for a FriendEvelyn Kehleay-MillerMy First WinterKerry Adamah KennedyI Live Where Billboards Are BrokenHomeJanetta KonahWater BirdsMy Grieving MotherMemorabiliaNvasekie KonnehThe Life of a PoetMy Father’s Last PrayerLekpele M. NyamalonRock Your JawsYou Post StockadeJackie SayeghSay NothingEunice Sua SeyakerSing to Me, Ade: On Reading “Praise Song for My Children”Lamelle ShawAshes of My HeartMohamed SheriffNomad ChildThe First HeartbeatJoshua T. G. SmithTragediesPrince U. D. TardehLet’s Be CoolAugustine F. Taylor Jr.Red LightAyouba ToureEarth’s a BattlefieldOn Searching for Peace from WithinThe Women of Monrovia Are Citizens of HeavenRebirthKulah K. WashingtonThe Home in RuinVermon WashingtonPeaceIf We Could Love AgainOthello WehMonrovia VagrantsSit DownMonrovia FloodKorto WilliamsThe Secrets of SeptemberMasnoh WilsonAs If I Never LeftSource AcknowledgmentsContributors