Poetry from the heart.
It was certainly a new experience for me when I first started writing Poetry. I remember my father Fred Kitchen had written numerous poems, so maybe it's in my genes. I certainly was not a person who appreciated poetry at all and to be honest, I still sometimes find it difficult to enjoy or understand some poetry written by other people. However, I do take a lot of pleasure from listening to and reading the lyrics of songs. I will never be a Wordsworth or a Taupin but none of us should be afraid of just being ourselves and doing things our own way. I think this love of lyrics has influenced my preference for rhyme. Although I didn't actually start writing poetry until well into middle age, it has certainly given me a fulfilment I would never have thought possible. My inspiration comes from a variety of directions but it would be wrong of me to offer too much explanation. I believe people read a poem or listen to the words of a song and relate to it in their own way. My poems had not been read outside of my own family and I thought they might not be good enough to be honest, for me to go public with them. But I took the plunge and decided to go public via the internet. My wife had shown me an advert in a local paper for submissions to an online poetry magazine. It resulted in two of my poems being published and me receiving some confidence boosting encouragement. Making me realize my poems might actually be worth reading. Tim
