The Friday Poem on 27/08/21
We chose Tess Jolly’s poem ‘Guitar’ because it is so clear and succinct in its storytelling and so moving in its subject matter. There’s nothing extraneous, and every word earns its place. It’s just one sentence, so neatly put together, and speaks to the experiences — and the fears — of so many parents.
Guitar
After the collision of her car with his wheel,
of his small body with the road
and of my world with hers, a stranger
so distraught I found myself comforting her;
after the gathering of kindness
on the pavement that morning
round the boy who stood bruising, bewildered,
breathing; later, at home, when my thoughts
turned to how near life orbits its aftermath,
to the gaps that open then close,
to the parents standing forever at bedroom doors
unable to take down the posters
or pick up the pyjamas strewn on the rug;
I listened to him humming along
as, sweetened and bathed and back from his shock,
he picked out slow, careful, hesitant notes.
