The River Is Rising

by Patricia Jabbeh Wesley

In Patricia Jabbeh Wesley's third collection of poems, the poet writes about being caught between two cultures: her native Liberia and her adopted America. The struggles of the immigrant are contrasted with her memories of the Liberian Civil War.

126 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2007

Reviews

[Gisselle Yepes · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is so much beauty here, as there is immense sorrow. Each poem waters into the next poem and is also its own is(land) and it’s own country. The dead are alive here. Death is, too, an opening & it is beautiful to see how the speaker(s) constantly ripple, revel, live, and honor death alongside the wait/the wake, to invoke Christina Sharpe.

[Jonterri · Rating 5 out of 5]

these poems display, with experience and authority, what it truly means to be displaced. how it effects a person, a woman, her role as a mother, and a citizen. I didn't know the back story before I started reading the book, so each poem brought new awareness of what it means to be displaced. The poet survived the Liberian Civil War and came to the US. Truly insightful, thought provoking, and moving.

[Patricia Jabbeh W · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, this is my own book. Can it pass for one? I just had it published, and I bet you, I read it before it went to print and just read it again-ha.