Play-Doh

I'm not a mother, not particularly fond of babies, and have no experience with Play-Doh - even so, I like the descriptive phrasing & pairings in the first section, and I was particularly struck, like Shan, by the closing stanza...the idea that a child's 'substance' 'lives' in the heart of the mother, the toy-box/box of ribs analogy, and the contrast/relationship between pliancy and bonding (the heart and the brain). The reference to imprints is what most intrigued me - that the process of imprinting does not only occur in neonates, but is also triggered in adults as a result of parenthood.

I've just seen Shan's comment about the 'black-headed gull' - I'm not sure about that either, though gulls, like gannets, are notorious for their orientation to all things food-related, plus, their raucus demeanour - and it seems the latin name is translated as 'laughing gull' - probably not pertinent, but worth a mention just to maintain my reputation for irrelevance :>