When Mum chops, it’s her dreams
on the slab. She wipes blood
from the blade, then washes her hands.

Chunks of paled flesh wobble
like stale jelly slapped in a pan
where greedy oil sizzles and spits.

She places bland plates before us:
husband, sons and the ghost
of her younger self, waiting,

hunger poised, sharp as a knife.

S.A. Leavesley is a poet, fiction writer, journalist, and editor at V. Press – fitting words around life, life around words! Her latest books: ‘plenty-fish’ (Nine Arches Press, shortlisted in International Rubery Book Awards 2016) ‘Lampshades & Glass Rivers’ (Overton Poetry Prize 2015 winner) and a novella, ‘Kaleidoscope’. Her website is at: www.sarah-james.co.uk.