Tayllor Johnson
Yo-Yo Ma’s Cello Mourns
Inspired by a piece performed by Yo-Yo Ma after the fires in Maui
He grabbed his cello
Across the ashen ocean floor
The reluctant end pin
paralyzed at the shore’s edge
He began
The cello’s belly is so unsure
Spilling vibrato prayers
Before the magic begins
And a choking land prying away hungry eyes
Can breathe again
No ominous foot on their necks
The trees sing green — sing home
The ocean remembers
Providing life and then
a spirit rises, and then
what ascends from the crying bow
and aching hollow
Is another beautiful thing entirely
Tayllor Johnson
Writer
Tayllor Johnson is a poet, writer, educator, performer, activist, and founder of Sisterhood (verb), Inc. A published poet, she has been writing and performing her poetry and written works for over 15 years. She liberates, investigates, and celebrates herself through her written and spoken word and inspires others to do the same. Having taught for over ten years, her undergraduate (Mount Holyoke College) and graduate (New York University) research centered around establishing art as a community norm in disenfranchised schools through arts-integrated curriculum development and community outreach. Tayllor’s journey fighting for justice and healing as a Black woman in America led her to create Sisterhood (verb), Inc., a creative consulting business dedicated to uplifting Black women and youth through art and community and consulting with other organizations in arts education, social justice, and community building with creativity at the center. Currently, Tayllor is in Santa Barbara, CA, finishing up her first poetry book, Sweet Epiphanies: To be Determined, and working to accomplish her mission to find new ways poetry can empower and soothe the wounded and disturb the status quo, setting us all on a path to freedom.
