Factory Outing
Yachts, LS Lowry 1959

Catherine Graham

Red and yellow sails like flames
out on the water; the salt-sea air

so good for factory girls like me,
girls who spend their days in overalls

and daft hats; busy little workers
pounding the production line. The two

blokes in row boats look knackered,
like me at the end of a shift.

My ex was at the back of the bus, sat
next to her from Packaging. God she was

packed into that dress. Maybe I'll just
stand here a bit longer, imagine life

beyond that horizon, but what the hell
do I know about life beyond any horizon,

standing here looking at yachts, feeling
lost, like a fish out of batter, praying

my period will come, either that or
with the next kind wave I drown.

Catherine Graham grew up in Newcastle on Tyne where she still lives. She takes pride in her working-class roots, which were the inspiration behind her first collection Things I Will Put In My Mother's Pocket (Indigo Dreams, 2013). This poem is from her forthcoming pamphlet Like A Fish Out Of Batter, poems after LS Lowry.

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