Mammy Roon thi Firepit by Michael Mullen
Mammy Roon thi Firepit by Michael Mullen
During the days of lockdown I was going through a drought of inspiration. My neighbour was barbecuing for her whole family and it was something so simple yet very powerful. I wanted to create an ode to something as mundane and beautiful as a Mother and her ability to fortify and nurture with a meal in the sun.
Reality’s wobblin
as thi barbeque burns tae a smoulder
smokes ur flittin
stinkin lit dinnur.
She stokes thi coals wae her tongs
lit a shaman fire tamer, she prods
it thi blaze, askin ye
– ye wahntin sauce oan it aye?
plump-blue mists
column er gerdens.
Breathin in thi hazes
as if thi chicken wings
wur fullae premonitions.
Hades-hoat bi thi spit
wi her pinnie oan as armour,
grills gloam wi thi shriek ae the meat,
scarred burgers
n thi burst
ae hoatdogs oan thi rack.
She’s in aboot it
lit a priestess, ur a seer.
Here’s mammy oot the back
communin wae fire
– Right c’moan, aht’s yer dinnur ready
Michael Mullen’s work has appeared on Sky Arts and he participated in the inaugural Poets in Paisley collective which was set up by Donna Matthew in 2021 to create a space for new and emerging Poets. Contact Donna on Instagram or email do****************@gm***.com
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