We do not struggle to understand we are reluctant to remember
with one eye open and the other eye closed we watched her being eaten and eat too.
some of us eat through our own mouths
some of us eat through the mouths of our neighbours
some eat through the mouths of ancestors
*
And let us not forget what some ancestors have eaten.
*
In devouring we forgot, we too, are devoured
In devouring her, we forget, we devour ourselves
we are afraid to realise
that the climate has changed
and we have too.
* It all happened in a forgetful sleep *
As we continue to look away
sleep walking in a frenzy of mastication
wasps in my stomach scuttle,
fizz and hiss
they shiver up through my throat
their protest fills my eyes and ears with white noise
In devouring her, we forget, we devour ourselves
Maya Adams is a Ugandan-American artist exploring different modes of being in a world whose physical and social climate is rapidly changing. She is interested in how stories of the past and stories of the present interact and shape our ideas of what the future can be. Her previous work has touched upon concepts of ecological grief, climate justice, and expressions of liminality or “inbetween-ness” in race and gender. Maya explores multiple styles and mediums of expression and some of her pieces have manifested through painting, film, photography, illustration, sculpture, installation and poetry. Her artwork has been featured in spaces including the Oxford Natural History Museum, Le 6b Paris, NYU Abu Dhabi Gallery Space, The Gazelle, Electra Street, The Oxford Society for Art and Ecology's Flute and Bowl, and Anthroposphere: the Oxford Climate Review.
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