Gary
Artist | Professional | Literature

United Kingdom

My name is Gary and I am a poet.
What does that mean?
It means that words are in my soul. I pour out my thoughts, my feelings, my dreams and fantasies through the medium of the written word. My poetry, like me is unique. It comes from the complex web of cultural identity, experience and emotions that have shaped and continue to shape my life. So what kind of poet am I?
Well I'm the poet who at the age of six watched his parents marriage being ripped apart. I'm the child who was taken from home, the extended family, the school and the town he knew to live in another part of the country with his mum and her boyfriend. For two and half years I listened and watched as he beat her.
I'm the poet who at the age of nine knew what it was to be cold and hungry. Who felt unloved and unwanted. Who watched his mum have a breakdown.
I'm the poet who at the age of ten learned to look after an alcoholic and drug dependent mum. Who used to take her to bed and wash the vomit from her face.
I'm the twelve year old whose dad came back into his life, and learned that daddy was gay, the hard way.
I'm the fourteen year old who was filled with such rage and hate that the wise ones learned to stay away.
I'm the sixteen year old who started work on his birthday and didn't stop til ill health forced him.
I'm the eighteen year old who met a girl, fell in love, and married her. The one who would be faithful and true for thirty two years. I'm the one who didn't fall 'out of love'.
I'm the nineteen year old who had a Son and who has been the best Father he could be ever since.
I'm the Twenty three year old who finally broke down and told about the abuse that ripped him apart and seemingly destroyed him.
I'm the twenty six year old who was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis - google it, it's the illness from hell. There are times when the pain is unbearable, when you bang your head against the wall, when the strongest pain killers barely touch it, When you can't walk. I'm the one who would work for another twenty four years before it wore me down.
I'm the thirty year old who became a follower of Jesus after a remarkable supernatural experience.
I'm the forty seven year old whose wife sat him down and said 'I love you you, but I'm not in love with you any more'. It destroyed me, broke me into a million tiny pieces, because I still loved her like I did on the day I married her. I'm the guy who wanted to try and make it work again.
I'm the fifty one year old who struggles with depression and low self esteem
I'm the guy who struggles with life and believes in love...
I'm Gary, the dreaming poet.
Peace and love my friends.