Poetry Spoken Word Arts and Culture

Psalm 151 - A Poem by Theresa Lola

August 05, 2018 |
by KQx Media

When the writer first met Theresa Lola in 2013, she was a rising spoken word artiste who was making the rounds in the London poetry circuit. Within the space of five years, Theresa Lola has matured and become an established poet who delivered her poem 'For Those Who Listen When Courage Calls' on 24 April 2018, at the unveiling of the statue of suffragist leader Millicent Fawcett in Parliament Square. The British Prime Minister, Theresa May and Sadiq Khan, the London Mayor were in attendance as Theresa Lola held them bound with her poetic spell.
 
KQx Media is proud to have Theresa Lola as our Resident Poet this month. Theresa is a British Nigerian Poet and workshop facilitator. She was the joint winner of the 2018 Brunel International African Poetry Prize. She also won the 2017 Hammer and Tongue National Slam and was shortlisted for the 2017 Bridport Poetry Prize. She is an alumnus of the Barbican Young Poets Programme and has performed across the UK and internationally. 

 

Psalm 151

1 I was born crying

at the first sight of the world,

begging my mother to push me back in,

because the darkness of the womb is

holier than all the light in the world.

 

2 The chances of living untainted

are as small as

the chances of skin surviving

direct contact with the sun.

 

3 O God have mercy on me

for what I have become.

An infinite well of excuses

for why I grew distant from light.

 

4 I am a staggering disciple.

A Red Sea searching for Moses

to grant it a new face.

 

5 Call me typical human

tripping on mistakes.

 

6 God do not judge me for what I have become.

I signalled my fear of being conquered

by the things I was created to conquer.

 

7Ask my mother for evidence,

she’ll tell you I cried at

the first sight of the world.

 

8 I could see evil trolling in the air,

a cigarette lodged between its fingers.

It tried to poison my oxygen,

 

9 I fought it off with a strength

I prayed my fists into.

 

10 From then I knew I was unprepared for this

world of fighting darkness.

 

11 But a baby’s cry is seen as nothing more

than lunch breaks from cuteness.

No one ever realises they are trying to

communicate with God.

 

 

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