Poetry review – RAINBOW CANDLES: Jennifer Johnson appreciates the originality and positivity in Tony Challis’s debut pamphlet
Rainbow Candles
Tony Challis
Five Leaves Publications
ISBN 978-1-915434-31-9
38pp £7.00
Tony Challis is Chair of the Nottingham Poetry Society and has previously facilitated a writer’s group for LGBT+ people at Nottingham Writer’s Studio. Challis has written poetry since the 1980s and has had poems published in several regional anthologies. He has also had prose published in Late Outbursts (2014) and Desire, Love, Identity (2019). Rainbow Candles is his debut collection which is divided into 3 sections, ‘Heart’, ‘Tongue’ and ‘Hands’. The first explores LGBT+ themes, the second looks at life from unusual viewpoints and the third considers a variety of topics.
As the cover states that the ‘Heart’ section “explores LGBT+ themes as experienced by Challis” there is no need to assume a persona other than the poet. His clear love of poetry is shown by his ability to adapt famous poems and prayers into themes of concern to him. Take the first poem ‘Tribal Hymn’ as an example. It begins
Glory be to the forest and to the many branches
discreetly standing guard.
Glory be to those in the woodland shade, writing by candlelight,
passing on the history of the tribe.
This poem is adapted from the Christian Gloria Patri (prayer of praise). It honours the LGBT+ people who survived decades of prejudice since the founding of the Gay Liberation Front in the 1970s. Although dark things like “the police raids, the abuse hurled” are mentioned, much of the poem recounts joyful times describing “those at lamplit tables, chuckling, glasses clinking”. The poem ends with a word-filled joyfulness as expressed by the “contented chatter rising like a murmuration”. The “passing on the history of the tribe” is what Challis sets out to achieve in the rest of the ‘Heart’ section.
The next poem ‘Through the Door (February 1972)’ describes Challis’s acceptance of his sexuality. It ends
Afterwards there is a new rhythm to my life,
I can never return to the outer darkness,
the dialectics of my desires will drive me on.
This expresses his compulsion to follow wherever his desires lead him, thereby leaving the previous “outer darkness” of his previous life. The subsequent poem, ‘The Moon Rising’, starts with a retelling of Donne’s poem ‘The Sun Rising’ which begins “Busy old fool, unruly Sun”. Challis’s poem begins “Busy old fool, inconstant moon!”. A few lines later the moon is asked “Must we creep in tunnels or/in caves to escape your view?”. There is danger in being gay as is graphically portrayed in the poem ‘Another Quiet Queerbashing’ which begins
Times come when the search for words is dry.
He could only smile with his eyes,
the frame clamped over his face prevented
speech, bolted in place to help his jaw heal.
After these lines, the word “quiet” in the title acquires a particularly sinister connotation.
The greatest mortal danger in the 1980s was, of course, AIDs which killed many people. The poem ‘Sweet Boy’ is about P.E., the first man to die of AIDs in this country in 1981. This poem begins with an adaptation of the title of the Ginsberg poem ‘Sweet Boy, Gimme Yr Ass’. Challis’s poem begins “Sweet boy, gimme your hair”. Despite the tragic situation the poem exhorts the victim to return to the wonderful times before contracting AIDs as in “Sweet boy, gimme your rainbow,/trail the tresses, let the spotlights whirl”.
In the second section ‘Tongue’ Challis shows his ability with writing formal verse in the villanelle ‘The Vaccine Vocalises’. One rhyme makes use of only the “pharm” part of pharmaceutical which links well with the rhymes “harm” and “alarm” expressing fears that undercut the vaccine’s reassurance “There is no need for shivers or alarm”. There is also humour when the vaccine says “Ah, don’t sneeze right now – that’s so uncouth”. ‘For I Will Consider the Squirrel Who Shares my Garden’ is written in the style of Christopher Smart’s ‘My Cat, Jeoffry’ even linking the squirrel with the cat in the line “For he preens and licks himself on the fence as though he were a bushy-tailed cat”.
The final section ‘Hands’ ends with the poem ‘All Together Now’ where the poet hopes that Geoffrey Chaucer will share his Covid bubble. The poem begins “Come Geoffrey, come and be my bubble,/and on all the pilgrim’s fare we’ll feast” and ends joyfully “Bring your spirits, let them blend with mine/And all shall dance”.
I highly recommend this pamphlet for its skilful writing full of vitality and hope that a full collection will follow.
Jun 12 2026
London Grip Poetry Review – Tony Challis
Poetry review – RAINBOW CANDLES: Jennifer Johnson appreciates the originality and positivity in Tony Challis’s debut pamphlet
Rainbow Candles
Tony Challis
Five Leaves Publications
ISBN 978-1-915434-31-9
38pp £7.00
Tony Challis is Chair of the Nottingham Poetry Society and has previously facilitated a writer’s group for LGBT+ people at Nottingham Writer’s Studio. Challis has written poetry since the 1980s and has had poems published in several regional anthologies. He has also had prose published in Late Outbursts (2014) and Desire, Love, Identity (2019). Rainbow Candles is his debut collection which is divided into 3 sections, ‘Heart’, ‘Tongue’ and ‘Hands’. The first explores LGBT+ themes, the second looks at life from unusual viewpoints and the third considers a variety of topics.
As the cover states that the ‘Heart’ section “explores LGBT+ themes as experienced by Challis” there is no need to assume a persona other than the poet. His clear love of poetry is shown by his ability to adapt famous poems and prayers into themes of concern to him. Take the first poem ‘Tribal Hymn’ as an example. It begins
Glory be to the forest and to the many branches
discreetly standing guard.
Glory be to those in the woodland shade, writing by candlelight,
passing on the history of the tribe.
This poem is adapted from the Christian Gloria Patri (prayer of praise). It honours the LGBT+ people who survived decades of prejudice since the founding of the Gay Liberation Front in the 1970s. Although dark things like “the police raids, the abuse hurled” are mentioned, much of the poem recounts joyful times describing “those at lamplit tables, chuckling, glasses clinking”. The poem ends with a word-filled joyfulness as expressed by the “contented chatter rising like a murmuration”. The “passing on the history of the tribe” is what Challis sets out to achieve in the rest of the ‘Heart’ section.
The next poem ‘Through the Door (February 1972)’ describes Challis’s acceptance of his sexuality. It ends
Afterwards there is a new rhythm to my life,
I can never return to the outer darkness,
the dialectics of my desires will drive me on.
This expresses his compulsion to follow wherever his desires lead him, thereby leaving the previous “outer darkness” of his previous life. The subsequent poem, ‘The Moon Rising’, starts with a retelling of Donne’s poem ‘The Sun Rising’ which begins “Busy old fool, unruly Sun”. Challis’s poem begins “Busy old fool, inconstant moon!”. A few lines later the moon is asked “Must we creep in tunnels or/in caves to escape your view?”. There is danger in being gay as is graphically portrayed in the poem ‘Another Quiet Queerbashing’ which begins
Times come when the search for words is dry.
He could only smile with his eyes,
the frame clamped over his face prevented
speech, bolted in place to help his jaw heal.
After these lines, the word “quiet” in the title acquires a particularly sinister connotation.
The greatest mortal danger in the 1980s was, of course, AIDs which killed many people. The poem ‘Sweet Boy’ is about P.E., the first man to die of AIDs in this country in 1981. This poem begins with an adaptation of the title of the Ginsberg poem ‘Sweet Boy, Gimme Yr Ass’. Challis’s poem begins “Sweet boy, gimme your hair”. Despite the tragic situation the poem exhorts the victim to return to the wonderful times before contracting AIDs as in “Sweet boy, gimme your rainbow,/trail the tresses, let the spotlights whirl”.
In the second section ‘Tongue’ Challis shows his ability with writing formal verse in the villanelle ‘The Vaccine Vocalises’. One rhyme makes use of only the “pharm” part of pharmaceutical which links well with the rhymes “harm” and “alarm” expressing fears that undercut the vaccine’s reassurance “There is no need for shivers or alarm”. There is also humour when the vaccine says “Ah, don’t sneeze right now – that’s so uncouth”. ‘For I Will Consider the Squirrel Who Shares my Garden’ is written in the style of Christopher Smart’s ‘My Cat, Jeoffry’ even linking the squirrel with the cat in the line “For he preens and licks himself on the fence as though he were a bushy-tailed cat”.
The final section ‘Hands’ ends with the poem ‘All Together Now’ where the poet hopes that Geoffrey Chaucer will share his Covid bubble. The poem begins “Come Geoffrey, come and be my bubble,/and on all the pilgrim’s fare we’ll feast” and ends joyfully “Bring your spirits, let them blend with mine/And all shall dance”.
I highly recommend this pamphlet for its skilful writing full of vitality and hope that a full collection will follow.