Mum loved to knit

with love, lamb’s wool, mohair,

needles close by or underarm

or in her mouth.

She leant to fetch a new skein

from the bag on the carpet

and began knitting with blood.

The point punctured throat

and a Saturday evening in A and E

opened her eyes.

Maggie Mackay is in her final Masters year at Manchester Metropolitan University. She has work in print and online including The Everyday Poet edited by Deborah Alma, Bare Fiction, Ink, Sweat and Tears, The Interpreter’s House, Prole, I am Not a Silent Poet and with Three Drops Press.