(for John)
You’ve got to admire those dead flies
Hanging from the sticky strip
In the far from model kitchen
At least they felt passion,
died in the throes of it,
disappointing spider Sunday dinner
not gone for nothing
but wild with desire
not hunted down,
life fluid sucked slowly
till just dry husk remains,
strapped to nursing home bed.
No more choice.
Decisions have sharp edges,
necessary risk. Weigh [...]

Mother Time, Joanne Arnott’s sixth book, is as strong on the time as it is on the mothering. (Ronsdale Press, 2007, 139pp, ISBN 978-155380-046-0). ‘Enchantment & Freedom,’ for example:
‘When did the chant begin? How many generations or thousands of years, shaken in the womb to the same damn rhythm…”
Measuring, (“today I have been a good [...]