by Martha Landman
“. . . the sign of a mind that is restless but not wandering.” -- The Guardian
A farm girl, lover of cats,
started writing and never stopped
the controversy
from communism to feminism
a sharp contrarian
chanting slogans
a step away from lunacy
ran away from motherhood
into a household of adolescent
waifs and strays
“I will not”
written in her Bible
every pigeonhole declined
a curtsied “no” to damehood
in a non-existent empire
her visionary power captured
in a golden notebook on a
dinosaur typewriter
her novels and scepticism
travelled the world
she thought freely, independently
an irascible soul with little tact
an impenetrable icon of wisdom
a lover of Sufis and cats.
Martha Landman writes poetry in North Queensland, Australia. Her work has appeared in various journals including Every Day Poets, Poetry 24, Eunoia Review, Muse.