Marcia Calame, Contributor

Celebrate Wha?: Ten Black British Poets from the Midlands £7.95 Eric Doumerc, Roy McFarlane   Eric Doumerc, teaches English at the University of Toulouse-Le Mirail In france. His book include: Caribbean: The English-Speaking Caribbean since independence AND An Introduction to poetry in English. Roy Mcfarlane, Is well respected and a great contributor, in the arts world and is formerly the Birmingham Laureate 2010-2011

An Anthology of words filled with wisodm, education, laughter, love and inspiration, from the prospective eyes and minds of ten talented Black poets.

 

'MEMORY LOSS' written by Marcia Calame, is one of her few poems contributed in this book. A sample:

 

MEMORY LOSS

 

I see traces of blood in the soil

Where my ancestors fought for a name

For an understanding

For a language

For space

Those whose arm point to the direction for freedom

And those whose leg escaped the other

And have traded their footsteps

For shoes

 

These I call aunty and uncle nameless

And my cousins anonymous

The braves

And the slaves of the spirit

Those who had no tongues

But showed me how to talk

And those who had no legs

But showed me how to walk

 

I see the footsteps of where the century tread

And have stumbled

Into the marshes

And sodden some of the memoirs

That was carried in its sack

And the pages of recollections have fallen through

And have baked

Now lost

In the galaxy

Of dust

 

Dear Century

I think you should pass on

The batten to the trees

Because they stand still

And absorb the history

In their trunks

Encasing the hopes and dreams in their roots

Reminding us

The bearing of our fruits

 

Century- seems to lose

The truths

And the histories

What we need to tell the youths

Has now become a mystery

 

(Marcia Calame Copyright)