Tony Lewis-Jones was born in Carmarthen, South Wales, in 1959. His poetry has appeared in numerous magazines on both sides of the Atlantic, and has been broadcast on radio and TV. He has held/holds a number of poetry-related posts, including Poet-In-Residence at BBC Radio Bristol and Co-ordinator, Poetry In The Parks, as well as working full-time as an administrator for Royal Mail. He is currently the Poet-In-Residence at The Bristol Evening Post. Married for the second time, he has a young son and a grown-up daughter.

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A Blessing

The priest liked to visit.

She, in distress,

would welcome his calm,

plain-spoken advice.

Bitten by loss,

still grieving, she found

through whispered communion

a sense of the past



when healing was spoon-fed

and troubles were eased

by the touch of a hand

on the forehead,

a kiss.



The Synod commended

a mission abroad

stressing the need

for detachment.

Nightly, she prays

to a distant father: she,

who was painfully thin,

filling out.

Copyright © 2001 by Tony Lewis-Jones