The Undoing

The Undoing by Elizabeth Stott features a diverse collection of poems linked by the author’s exploration of selfhood and her place in the universe.

Elizabeth Stott was born in Kent, and has moved north in stages, settling in Cumbria where she has lived for over 25 years. A physics graduate, she worked in industry before taking time out to raise her family. As an antidote to the domestic, she started writing fiction and poetry, which has developed to include work in varied form and genre.

Ladybird

Wait
for him
an afternoon.

Watch
the slow march
of light across the room.
Watch a blank-faced door. Wait.
Read the pamphlet given.

A tea tray rattles.

Glimpse
a polished desk
a row of family portraits in wooden frames:
perhaps – a wife, children.
Read the pamphlet given.

Perhaps, you’ll
notice the blue carpet,
a scattering of biscuit crumbs
a place where the pile is worn.
Read the pamphlet given.

See the little ladybird trapped by the glass,
it wants to go home. It wants to go home.