"Your soul was formed and whole/ In water. / And altar,/ In father, son and/ Holy daughter.

/ Hands up,/ Give testament,/ You are living proof/ The sediment,/ Of the impossible…"In Laji Owo’s debut book of poetry, she explores the multifaceted experiences of queerness, Blackness, femme-ness, and madness. Utilizing personal, shared, historical and pop cultural accounts, her book illustrates sociopolitical issues through webs of metaphors and mind-bending entendres.

Woven together by religious motifs, Our Lady of The Mad invites readers to submerse themselves into a realm of needing healing and wellbeing, while living, in a world hellbent on eradicating you. Whether it be heartbreak spawned from religious trauma, cultural roots fractured by colonialism, the beauty and brutalities of womanhood, or even the shifting manifestations of mental health, OLOTM calls out to anyone looking to find their own voice within the multitude.

These poems are for those most burdened by the weight of being both simultaneously enchanting and enraging to greater society. It's for those whose very essence has been made a spectacle.

And for those who recognize the patterns that stitch us together -- may you find yourself most blessed. By the power vested in our collective stories, we can pronounce a unique freedom upon ourselves.

We can experience the happenings of our universe -- God. Everything.

We gain a freedom written in the habit of this magic. And this freedom is given to those most beloved by our lady.

Welcome. Welcome.

Welcome. Welcome!.