Travelling Mercies

POOR MRS. LOT And so it was that Lot's hard-ears wife became a pillar of solid eye water. Poor woman, frozen there crystalline up from ground, salt stalagmite. One last glance at what you left behind: your mother's cutlery, your yellow plates. One more look behind to memorize the lay, the order of the landscape. The red water tank. The church spire. One last look is enough to petrify. Like you, she should have cried as she left, not daring to look back, savouring hard homeground with salt.Goodison, Lorna is the author of 'Travelling Mercies', published 2001 under ISBN 9780771033827 and ISBN 0771033826.