I’m always amazed by visual poetry and I often wonder where poets find their inspiration. A few months ago I was dipping in and out of streetcake magazine as I was getting things done around the house and saw a visual poem about motherhood called ‘Head space [no vacancies]’ by Naomi Marklew.
I was still thinking about this poem while I carried on with housework and, as I was reflecting on my speed at turning off the milk just before it boiled over and my slowness at getting my toddler to the toilet in time, an idea for a poem arrived and I realised I could lay out the text visually. So I did. And then streetcake magazine published it!
You can find all issues available for free download on the streetcake magazine website here.
My poem ‘Mothering in the Far Oeste’ is in issue 70, part 1.
Brazil from the outside in 