Topoke

Biographical Details

I was born in April 1960 in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, across the road from the Johnnie Walker whisky plant. I always joke that the first thing I saw when I was born was my beautiful mother, (that’s true not the joke bit), and the second thing was the monocled Mr walker on the outside of the factory wall.

I was brought up in Darvel, ten miles due East, and lived there until I was nineteen when my family moved to Aberdeen. I later moved down to Kent where I have been living with my girlfriend for the past twenty years.

I remember once when I was fourteen being at my grannies farm, and she showed me her old diaries she had kept, and let me read them. I was fascinated by them, as she could tell me what I had done in my two or three yearly trips I went on to stay with her. ”WEE JIMMY CAME TO STAY, FELL IN THE BURN AND GOT SOAKED”.. When I got home I bought an A4 pad and binder and put everything down in my diary. Reading them to-day, it still seems like yesterday when I relive past moments and experiences. I would recommend diary keeping to everyone!

Writing Poetry

Since coming to Kent I have been a lorry driver and that is where I started to write poetry. I remember the day well. I was waiting to get unloaded at Dunstable and after four hours had read both my papers and my book. I had the diary with me, so put my frustrations of not being unloaded into poem number 1……”waiting” I had to sleep in the lorry most nights of the week and would either write in the cab, or head to some quiet pub and try and compose.

Many of the poems came from news items or headlines from the news, or talk programmes and if I thought I cud get a poem out of it I’d make a note of it and set to work when my day’s work was done. I have 834 under my belt now, and about 30 which I’m stuck with and can’t seem to put to sleep. Maybe I’ll get just the right idea to finish one and make it number 835.

Peculiar Poetry welcomed Topoke as a new guest poet in November 2007.

View Topoke's initial collection of Funny Poems