Sarah Passingham
Biography
Sarah lives on the edge of the Norfolk Broads, a watery landscape that inspires and underpins much of her writing. She considers the world to be a resource for the insatiably curious and has published non-fiction, short fiction, poetry, memoir and a libretto. She is a columnist for Brittle Star Magazine and a Trustee of the SAW Trust, an organisation dedicated to the interdisciplinary approach to Science, Art and Writing. Her latest book, PUSH: My Father, Polio, and Me was published 2019 by Gatehouse Press and is the story of how another virus devastated families before a vaccination was developed. www.sarahpassingham.co.uk
The Poem
I Live With My Sourdough Mother
I look in on her when invited but don’t make
eye contact. She needs attention.
The usual: food and love. But sometimes I forget her,
grow disenchanted, can’t be bothered.
To punish me she stops moving, grows grey,
throws me black looks and if I were to get that close,
her vinegary whispers send me reeling, her acid hooch
burns my skin. So I resolve to treat her better.
When we were young, still fermenting a fingerprint
soured from the yeast of home and sharing everything,
she fed my soul as well as my stomach. But then
she grew feisty, combative and urgent. She terrorised me
with her powers, kept me fearful in the night, afraid
that I’d missed the moment, so that I cried out, walked
through the night-shadows, opened doors, lifted
cloths and punched back. Kept my heat high.
Now I keep her behind a closed door,
make sure she’s ever so slightly depleted,
feeling needy, just ticking over.
She’s easier that way.