"Dedicated to Patricia Jabbeh Wesley"

BY JUSTINE SHULTZ

Trigger Warning for Traumatic Content: Please note that this poem addresses difficult topics related to civil war, including violence, murder, and r*pe.

I remember her getting a student's name wrong.

The student called her out on it.

Then I remember thinking:

Oh boy...

She got up, wrote her entire name,

her entire African, Liberian, true, original name

across the front chalk board.

Pronounce that!

She projected at the student

who obviously was unprepared

for such correction.

She is a sturdy woman.

The kind of woman you can lean on

in tough times.

Not because she will baby you

or pamper you,

but because she will tell you the truth.

She's seen war

that tore her country apart.

She knows of rape,

killing,

mass murder,

executions in churches.

She's seen Hell

on Earth.

She is a strong African woman,

unafraid to tell it like it is,

because it is so.

Her poetry brings emotions

so real,

you'd be ashamed not to feel.

I remember visiting her

during a class,

a class that my brother was in,

and she announced to the whole class:

My baby!

Then:

Why do you have such an ugly brother?

She's seen ugly,

so she should know.

She's seen the devil's face

in the faces of young boys

raping girls

and killing the elderly.

She moves me to be a better writer,

not for anyone else,

but for me.

I remember her coming to class

in her traditional or native garb

and thinking

Whoa.

She is not concerned about whether or not

someone will enjoy what she is wearing

or have something to say about it.

She'll wear what she wants to wear

because she can wear it

and forget you even exist.

She is who she is

because of what she has gone through,

and what she has done to get to where

she wants to be.