Lessons in Gravity: a messy marriage
By Taiwo Ava Oyebola
Time tangles itself in your hair, clings to your coat
like an infant
a siren’s song of Chinese whispers, the earth hears all the sins
of heaven and the devil tells you to make peace
with a dirty baptism
the saints stomped the ground and covered
their mouths from screaming hallelujah
A sorrow flew by and came to burn
reminding you that the best time to leave
is early, quitting before the moon is underground
puzzling the past he left you with
The see-saw
the green vines
these silly little wounds
this hunger
to locate and nurture birds on an electric fence
The day of judgement is always behind
never in front of you.
About Taiwo Ava Oyebola
Taiwo Ava Oyebola is a theatre-maker, poet and critic from London. Her work has been performed at the Almeida Theatre, Theatre 503 and with Talawa Theatre Company. Her reviews can be found at The British Blacklist and Off/Stage zine. She is currently writing her first full length play, ‘funhouse mirrors’.
Photo: Hayley Madden for Museum of the Home
Lessons in Gravity
Poems from Museum of the Home by The Young Poets Collective. Edited by Anthony Anaxagorou. Get a copy of the anthology from our shop
About the project
Lessons in Gravity is a collection of poems written by young people aged 15–24 exploring themes of power, identity and the legacy of colonialism at the Museum.