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Writing from the stemistry lab

Prompts

by Marilyn Longstaff

About this author

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