Boom!

The title poem of this new collection of poems by Carolyn Jess-Cooke: 'Boom!' enacts the moment when the new baby arrives in the family 'like a hand grenade'. 'Becoming a mother changed me in every single way, ' says the author, 'my first child - born in October 2006 - just about knocked me sideways. There were many reasons for this, but here's the biggest one: I could not believe how public and political the (hugely personal) experience of motherhood was.' A noted academic, author of a book about film and Shakespeare, and a best-selling popular novelist 'The Guardian Angel's Journal' and.;Cover Page; Title Page; Copyright Page; Contents; Boom!; I Phone You From the Sumo; Anonymous; The Days of the Ninth Month; Home Birth; The Right Ones; The Waking; The Lotteries; The Sadness; Parallelism; Red Stars; Different Water; Each Thing Observed Closer; Nights!; The Second Way to Skin a Cat; Motherhood Diptych; Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction; The Only Dad at Playgroup; Working Mother; Poem Made From Bits of Newspaper Headlines; Silence for Schumann; Staying at Home; Hare; Thetis; Speech Therapy Candidate; Daughtering; The Possessed; To a Zoopraxiscope; What Matters. The Title Poem Of This New Collection Of Poems By Carolyn Jess-cooke: 'boom!' Enacts The Moment When The New Baby Arrives In The Family 'like A Hand Grenade'. 'becoming A Mother Changed Me In Every Single Way,' Says The Author, 'my First Child - Born In October 2006 - Just About Knocked Me Sideways. There Were Many Reasons For This, But Here's The Biggest One: I Could Not Believe How Public And Political The (hugely Personal) Experience Of Motherhood Was.' A Noted Academic, Author Of A Book About Film And Shakespeare, And A Best-selling Popular Novelist 'the Guardian Angel's Journal' And 'the Boy Who Could See Demons', Jess-cooke Found, As Many Parents Do, That The Juggling Act Required To Raise Young Children And Continue A Professional And Creative Life, Is Both Exhausting And Fulfilling. The Poems Chronicle The Rapturous Moments, Such As 'wakening' Where The Baby Is Observed: 'the Seedling Eyes Stirred By Sunlight'. There Are Also The Tragi-comic 'nights' Full Of 'small Elbows In The Face' And 'assailed By Colds And Colic'. Jess-cooke Doesn't Flinch From The Darker Fears And Depressions That Can Afflict Parents. There Are Also Pieces Of Pointed Satirical Intent And Socio-political Comment Such As 'poem Made From Bits Of Newspaper Headlines ' And 'the Only Dad In Playgroup'. Viewing Motherhood From A Multiplicity Of Artful Angles, The Author Says, 'coupled With All This Was The Love I Had For My Children. It Completely And Utterly Blew Me Away, How Much I Could Love Another Human Being.' Cover Page Title Page Copyright Page Contents Boom! I Phone You From the Sumo Anonymous The Days of the Ninth Month Home Birth The Right Ones The Waking The Lotteries The Sadness Parallelism Red Stars Different Water Each Thing Observed Closer Nights! The Second Way to Skin a Cat Motherhood Diptych Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction The Only Dad at Playgroup Working Mother Poem Made From Bits of Newspaper Headlines Silence for Schumann Staying at Home Hare Thetis Speech Therapy Candidate Daughtering The Possessed To a Zoopraxiscope What Matters. Children of the BulliedSleep Training Instrument Planet Honour Thy Parents My Father's Mother Puppy Breaking My Father Still Life, With Family Belfast Murmuration The Fourth Child What We Talk About When We Talk About Motherhood Clay In Joy I Have Asked Questions One Hundred Years After the Suffragettes Life Questions The Mire Weft The Lessons In the Hands of an Orange Sun Mother Tongue All Right Acknowledgements. 1. 'Boom' by Carolyn Jess-Cooke is the title poem of this new collection from Seren Books that focuses on motherhood: the baby arrives in the family 'like a hand grenade' and nothing is quite the same again.