Skylight

Carole Bromley

£5

978-1-906613-08-2

Carole Bromley lives in York where she tutors in Creative Writing for the University of York. Her poems have been published widely in magazines and anthologies, and she has been highly placed in a number of competitions. Her pamphlet ‘Unscheduled Halt’ was a winner in the 2004 Poetry Business competition.

‘Wry, funny, clearly-written, and – especially when their perspectives are long – startlingly fresh and new’ – Kate Clanchy

‘Heartening and haunting’ – Michael Laskey

A JEWISH GIANT AT HOME WITH HIS PARENTS
after Diane Arbus

Ever wanted to eat your folks
like icing dolls off a wedding cake?

I could sweep them up like dust,
shake them onto the flower bed.

They keep the curtains closed all day
to stop the carpet fading;

they don’t like my nose, my hair,
my enormous feet.

Mum keeps a roomful of toys
as if I might regress,

looks up at me sometimes
like I’m some kind of ogre,

while dad stands, hands in pockets,
looking at his shoes,

diminished, defeated,
not knowing where to start.

I want to stretch out my arms
and shake the foundations,

stride off in my seven league boots
and find a ten foot woman.

– Carole Bromley, from Skylight (2009)