Thank
you for popping by my website. It’s been a long
time coming. (A Big "Thank you" goes to
Libbi Alcock for creating this website!)
First of all, I began
writing when I was about 17 years old …… …
(a very long time ago!)
At that time I was a
principal vocalist on the CBC-TV show called
"Let’s Go" in the early 60’s.
(oops… I think I just gave away my age). Anyway,
at that time I was given the opportunity to
perform one of my own compositions called "It’s
Funny". The Musical Director of the show
(and a long time personal friend, Tom Baird)
arranged my song for the house band on the show
and it was a thrill to see it all come together
and be aired right across the country. The show
had a huge following and I received a lot of fan
mail particularly the month that my song aired.
That little bit of success kept me putting pen to
paper, and, here I am , still writing.
Writing songs turned
into writing poetry and in 1997 my first
poem was published by the International Society of
Poets which has, by the way, over 3 and a half
million members worldwide. I kept writing and they
kept publishing my poems until in 1998 I was
invited to Washington, D.C. to vie for the title
of Poet of the Year. My time in
Washington could be easily explained as a weekend
of fun and merriment with a lot of hard work
thrown in. I was required to read my poetry
constantly during the day to audiences of fellow
poets from around the world, but more importantly,
judges for the ISP. The poem I chose to submit for
the competition was called "The Flight of
John F. Kennedy, Jr.". John’s plane had
crashed shortly before I left for Washington and,
as it was such a tragic event, I felt compelled to
write about it. As one of the few Canadians at the
event I was surprised to find that no one else had
written a poem on the subject. Though I received a
standing ovation for it, I did not win Poet of the
Year.
For those of you who read
this and are passionate about writing poetry
yourselves, you’ll understand when I say how
wonderful it is to be able to sit down, put pen to
paper and come up with a poem that brings a smile
to someone’s lips or a tear to their eye. At
that point, what we endeavor to achieve when we
write poetry is not in vain. I have always
followed the "rule of thumb"…. Make
sure a song, poem or story always has a beginning,
a middle and an end. That’s easier said than
done though. Some poems come together so easily
and others take days or weeks to complete and, oh
yes, we can’t forget the ones that simply end up
in the waste basket.
Well, the year 2001 came
along and September 11th inspired me to
write another poem entitled "September 11th,
2001 (New York City). It has since been framed and
presented to Mr. Rudy Giuliani and hangs in the
City Hall in Vancouver, B.C. Canada my home town.
Anything can happen. Ideas
are endless as we try to capture the world around
us in poetry. Our imagination is one thing that
can set us apart from other people. We all possess
a unique view of everything we see and hear and to
put it down on paper in a way that makes people
laugh or cry makes it all worthwhile.
My poetry book "Poetry
With Afternoon Tea" is a compilation of 40 of
my poems complete with a trivia section of teas of
the world. I am now also selling poetry greeting
cards for several occasions in packages of 10
cards and many people have been requesting framed
copies of my poem, "September 11th,
2001 (New York City). In the fall of 2004 my
poetry will be featured in a special book entitled
"The Best 100 Poets of 2003" published
by the ISP.
I hope you enjoy the few
poems I have put here on the website for you to
read. Don’t hesitate to give me some feedback.
Criticism, whether good or bad, is always food for
thought and, hey, we all get hungry once in a
while.
