Tony Jolley Poems

Fire on your finger,
Fire in your eye,
Fire in your spirit,
Fire that won’t die.
...

Today you’d have been a happy-go-lucky girl:
A teenager up to your eyes in make-up and Maths,
Chatting on MSN and mobile,
Reading chick-lit
...

...For my daughter, upon watching her play piano and finding melodies of a beauty so far out of my reach...

Your left hand looked a lot like mine – but it wasn’t.
Your left hand moved a little like mine – but with far greater grace
...

Reflection

It didn’t look good, that barely recognisable reflection –
Didn’t look at all like it should.
...

….Ah, no, not us, I'm afraid…

[Trans: for 'I'm afraid' read 'hallelujah! ',
What did Douglas Adams call it? –
...

What is it about your skin?
I touch you and it is as natural as breathing,
As right as being
That I don’t even have to think about it.
...

The pavement waters parted…
No need for a Moses:

On one side an old man
...

The cenotaph sighs
Under weight of the words:
A marble-white marker
Bridging two worlds.
...

The eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month,

Loaded with significance,
Charged with a memory of a reality
...

Don’t understand deliberate hurt.
Just don’t.
Never did.
...