I started writing poetry when I was very young. I was given “A book of a Thousand Poems” (ISBN-10: 0237443287 -Amazon) when I was eight years old. I was encouraged by my dad, C.T. Broughton (pen name Hugh Diddit, although he didn’t publish them). He had a typewriter and I loved to type out my favourite poems from the book – sometimes in triplicate, and I would hand them out at school. In hindsight, I think my friends were more impressed that we had a typewriter than with the poems.
I found writing my own poetry a great release for all emotions, particularly the angst of teenage years, which for me were deepened by the separation and divorce of my parents. Their encouragement, though, and that of my older siblings, kept me writing. After leaving school I worked as a nanny in London and on the Isle of Wight. I then returned to Yorkshire, completed a Nursery Nurse qualification, and got married to my Yorkshire “childhood sweetheart”. We now have three children and six grandchildren.
I always shrugged off suggestions to publish, feeling that my poems were just too personal and would not be appreciated outside of the family. But then I saw Pam Ayres on Opportunity Knocks. Her style was similar to mine – just the accent was different! So I thought, well, maybe I could…
I put together a sample of rhyming poetry and self published it*. Starting from scratch, with just Blurb for company! It went well, and I realise that many things that have inspired me have affected others, too.
In my day job I was an administrator and office organiser/control freak. I’m in that age bracket of women who have had their retirement date swept from underneath them so the day job kept me busy for more years than I expected.
Poetry is not likely to become my retirement nest egg, but it will keep me active (my keyboard fingers anyway!) and fulfil a long-held ambition. Hopefully others will find meaning and joy, comfort or empathy in some of my work.
My second book “Candle” is now available, only from this website (or message me)
I also wrote poetry during the Covid 19 Pandemic and put them into a collection called Covid Tymes with a chronological account of some of the events at that time. I avoid political references, which was difficult. I followed this with other Covid related poems as we came through to what was called New Normal. This project ran out of steam/motivation. We were all sick of it really. When the Putin/Ukraine war started in early 2022, and the fuel prices, cost of living crisis etc all hit. Then in UK we have the transport issues – train strikes, plane cancellations. Our Yorkshire Robin Hood Airport closed. All our holiday planned scuppered. Then at the end of the year, postal strikes, and most importantly nurses strikes. After all they have been through, after all the promises – before and after “Brexit” they still have to fight. It’s a people and conditions shortage as well as a pay shortage. Going off course a bit here. But the country is in a bit of a mess. More than. And it’s difficult to write about it without being political, so I step aside and let otherpoets rant about it.