Poetry

Why is poetry important to me?

Poetry has always been a very good friend of mine. As much as the main purpose of my poetry is to entertain people, there are many times when it has been my security blanket.

I have never been comfortable speaking in front of people: I worry about if for days before; my heart starts pumping like a traction engine in my chest; the swirling fog starts building in my mind. This anxiety is never worse than when I’m delivering a Best Man’s speech, or speaking at funerals, both occasions when emotion is very much to the fore. And it’s at times like these that my poetry comes to my aid, like a knight in ‘rhyming’ armour. Whatever the speech, I always like to have a poem in my back pocket to finish with. This serves two purposes: firstly, if it’s absolutely bombing and I’m having a meltdown, at least I can resort to the poem to at least gain some semblance of respectability; and secondly, just by virtue of having it in my pocket reduces the likelihood of a meltdown in the first place, so it’s a win-win.

When I was in my mid-twenties, I was lucky enough to travel around south-east Asia for 4 months. The world can really be a very big and foreboding place at times, and the internet was only in its infancy back then, so communication with family and friends back home was challenging at best. But fear ye not, my poetry was by my side. Every day for 4 months, whether I was in Indonesia, Thailand, Laos or Vietnam, I wrote a daily poem describing my adventures. Then every time I reached civilisation, I parked up in an internet café, typed out the last couple of weeks, and emailed them back home to all and sundry. I found it hugely comforting keeping in contact with everyone in this way, and loved spending an hour a day summarising the day’s adventures with the 3 friends I was travelling with. To this day, I still have all the writing pads that I used – a compilation of 130 different poems entitled ‘And So I Awoke’.

I have also continued to find poetry a more engaging way of diarising my other adventures. When I cycled from Land’s End to John O’Groats in 2019, I tried to capture the feelings of exhaustion and triumph by writing a poem every day. Similarly when I swam the Channel with three friends last year, I wrote a poem called ‘Poetry in Ocean’ to remind us of the journey.

I have always loved playing with words. I used to pedal furiously back from school on my bike so that I could join Richard and Carol for half an hour’s Countdown, pitting my wits every day against each of the competitors. Little did I know that 25 years later I would make a couple of appearances on the show myself!

So last March, when the coronavirus pandemic started to bear its teeth, and no one quite knew what on earth was going on, my wife Jen encouraged me to start writing a daily poem to send out to friends and families, to give them a little boost every morning. And that’s how it started, for 100 consecutive days I wrote several stanzas each day and sent them out. I wasn’t exactly short of material: the politics; rounds of applause; Captain Tom; family; friends; my own observations – there was so much going on every single day. The feedback I received was so heart-warmingly positive that I was encouraged to publish the poems as a unique and engaging record of one of the most extraordinary times of our lives…and that’s where ‘100 Days of Solitude’ was born.

Author Bio

He loves a good adventure, having travelled all round Asia, cycled from Land’s End to John O’Groats, swam the Channel with his friends – basically, anything he can write a good poem about! And then along came the coronavirus crisis, what better opportunity for him to re-engage with his poetic genes. For 100 consecutive days, he compiled a unique and engaging record of one of the most extraordinary times of our lives…and ‘100 Days of Solitude’ was born.

Interview Questions

1. When did you know that you wanted to be an author?

I am not sure I have ever really seen myself as an ‘author’. I have certainly always enjoyed messing around with words (playing Countdown every day when I got back from school, or getting embroiled in a cryptic crossword), and I have always had lovely feedback when I have written poems for Best Man’s speeches or at funerals. To be honest, they are more of a ‘comfort blanket’ for me to fall back on if the rest of the speech is bombing, but they always seem to be well received.

2. What inspired you to write this book?

In March 2020, as you may have noticed, the world went completely crackers! As people struggled to come to terms with the uncertainty, my wife Jen encouraged me to start writing a poem every day, to give friends and family something to look forward to every morning. I am so glad she did, as I got such a heart-warming response, and I actually found it very therapeutic myself, putting my own thoughts and feelings down in words. Even now, not even a year later, it is remarkable just how little we all appreciated what lay ahead.

3. If you could sell this book in one sentence what would it be?

A truly unique poetic diary of life during the most extraordinary 100 days of our lives. 

4. What are you up to next?

If people are enjoying the poems, and would like to hear more, then I’d love to rid myself of my Luddite tendencies and continue to explore the world of social media so that I can share them with a wider audience.

5. Who is your biggest inspiration?

My Dad – no doubt about that one. He’s always loved reading my poems, and I can still hear him giggling like a small child at some of them! Having unfortunately made his way upstairs nearly 2 years ago, he will be absolutely thrilled that I have taken the step of getting some of them published – particularly as he makes an appearance in a few of them!