Hi, thanks. I can see you’ve tried to read it very closely. So I’m going to respond in detail to your comments and see if that leads anywhere, to clarify what I meant to say.
“we” is my mother’s family
it’s my mother I’m talking about generally in the first two stanzas. the event (her nearly dying) occured at night hence “intimate and night-time hot” though i am not sure that’s really an appropriate way of describing it, the more i think of it, although it does relate to some quite personal recollections of what went on.
She’s not naked I’m just describing her collapsing. I wasn’t there but (as I heard it) it was not the fall that was traumatic it was the fact she was (almost) dead which was important. Hence the softness of the fall I am trying to convey.
‘Biceps’ can be singular if its one arm. Its a metaphor here for the heart muscle. I like it but I understand the expectation for two biceps.
What I’m getting here is that your father phones you and tells you your mother is gone. - yes, v nearly, she was actually very ill but not dead but i agree it read the way you say, although he didn;t kill her
“my bathroom” is a very mundane autobigophical reference. i just went there to absorb the news and decide what to do while my kids watched tv.
the “mirror” is nothing to do with the bathroom, absolutely right. its ametaphor fpr how my father responds
“her” means your mother’s – yes. i’m talking about my aunty. she died less than six weeks later having been to see my mum in hospital.
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