Carved from one piece of wood,
some four feet tall, the woman
leans forwards, her hands gentle
on the shoulders of her child.
His head rests against her body
and fused in the moment, he will not
leave her side. I run my fingers
over the patina, smoothed
by one man’s craft. His work 
has journeyed far with me
since that day in a Lagos market
when I paid seven naira for the love
between mother and child.


About the Author
Sue Wallace-Shaddad has two poetry pamphlets: a collaboration with artist Sula Rubens ‘Sleeping Under Clouds’ (Clayhanger Press April 2023) and 'A City Waking Up' (Dempsey and Windle, 2020).  Palewell Press will publish her third,‘Once There Was Colour’ in September 2024. London Grip, Artemis, The High Window, Poetry Scotland, Acumen, Fenland Poetry Journal, Ink Sweat & Tears and Finished Creatures have published her poems. Sue gained an MA from Newcastle University/Poetry School London (2020). She is Secretary of Suffolk Poetry Society, writes reviews, runs poetry workshops and is digital writer-in-residence for Charles Causley Trust’s The Maker. https://suewallaceshaddad.wordpress.com