Writing from the stemistry lab
Prompts
by Marilyn Longstaff
one stem cell conception
where would this happen
not possible to imagine
too microscopic to be real
too isolated for potential
wanting clarity in muddy water
x-ray specs and windscreen-wiper goggles,
regretting that we didn’t have another try
*
They go well together
Sunday dinner
pickled egg
test-tube baby
single bed
moral science
happy family
rational bishop
lady legs
*
It’s not what’s moral but what’s possible
Give me a stem cell sandwich and make it snappy
That’s what Mengele said, and my last husband
You’ll never make a stand-up, it should be a crocodile sandwich,
and you forgot the mayonnaise
Ridiculous, crocodiles are a protected species
*
Paddling at Saltburn
the swell
churns and whisks the minestrone:
seaweed strands strangling my bony ankles
and thick suspended sand scouring between
my toes
the seed case
always empty like a dead woman’s suitcase, unless
it’s filled with her unwanted shoes and given
to Oxfam