Tony Jolley Poems

Bruebach to Brunstatt to Didenheim
Every day, without fail, rain or shine.
Stick-thin – and a thin stick at that –
No 'old stick' though:
...

Full surgery – caseload queue surging out of the waiting room door
And curling down the corridor
Like some sick snake
Swallowing a cocktail of complaints
...

Size matters –
Doesn't it just…

Not the hoary old joke
...

Think of all the ungainly gaits you've ever seen:

Mr Hobson in his polio callipers
Clomping his exo-skeletal, leg ironwork
...

A nine-year-old, for God's sake,
[yes, for God's sake]
Even less than a slip of a 'slip of a girl'
Reportedly, repeatedly raped
...

‘Lazy Ginger’ for two very laid back chefs;

Malt vinegar because carpe frite is the better for it
(even if it is [not exactly] ‘fish ‘n’ chips’ as we know it):
...

[Reader: if you have not done so, please read 'X-Station-Box Generation' first. Thanks.]

Every slug of lead bulldozing its girth through soft tissue,
Every pressure-pad mine erupting to separate sole from soul,
...

Strange perfection.
Unexpected.
Tenderly playing in the corner of your mouth.
...

Object of your gruesome experimentation,
You stuck their megavolt electrodes
Of hearsay, revisionism, hatefulness and received un-wisdom
To my temples past, present and future
...

If someday scientists could reconstruct us from scratch –
Not just the skin and bones
But the personality to match:
Mind, emotions, values, judgement, belief, sensitivity:
...