I hope the day never comes
When my enthusiasm wanes,
When the pleasures of life
Are outweighed by its pains,
When the can’t do replaces
The determination that I can,
And when the child that’s inside me
Becomes an old man.
Hello and welcome to the Poetry of Tony Graham, a collection of my writings, penned over many years, which have been lying scattered around my office, scribbled on scraps of paper, found stuffed into drawers, or on old notebooks, even carelessly filed away somewhere and forgotten. Anyway, I thought it was time to dig them out and bring them together in one place and this blog is the result.
Those who worked alongside me when I had my “proper jobs” would probably be surprised that I write poetry, but those who know the real me, maybe not. I write, as one should always write, for my own enjoyment. If my readers enjoy what I write then that’s a real bonus, makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside.
I find poetry easier to write than prose, the challenge of its shorter form and the demands for a degree of structure in the various styles I chose for my verse are, perhaps, a reflection of the disciplines of my corporate days and of my accountancy profession.
Although I spent most of my working life in the UK, my wife, Lesley, and I now live in the small village of Bedford on the Southern fringes of the stunningly beautiful Karoo region of South Africa. The mountain that sits in front of our cottage and the beauty of the surrounding scenery inspires much of my writing and connects us on a daily basis with nature, as does our garden, where we spend so many happy, busy hours. The garden also inspires much of my writing.
Sadly Jess, our border collie and star of the Four Paws and a Blog page, is no longer with us, but she stays with us in spirit and her character lives on in the poems attributed to her.
I still write, almost on a daily basis, and if you would like to subscribe to my blog then you will be able to read my new poetry as it gets published.
Tony Graham