When Dad mentioned he was going to start writing some poetry post his Parkinson’s diagnosis, I was probably slightly sceptical. I had never seen him write any poetry before, or even heard him talk about it.

So you can imagine my surprise when his first effort was actually really good. And the next ones he produced were even better. It was great to see him taking on and embracing a new activity and then producing such great and heartfelt results. In fact, all the efforts that Dad has made to take on his Parkinson’s have been impressive – and he is an inspiration to the whole family. Hopefully, he will continue to produce more poetry and take on

more new challenges and activities too, especially where they can involve the whole family like this one. Steven Batchelor

One of the many beautiful things about poetry is that it while it inevitably provides a valuable and rewarding experience for the reader, it actually often does the same thing for the writer.

For the reader, it is a tunnel to another world: evocative, expressive, and often emotionally resonant writings of the heart and mind; but someone else’s heart and mind. Equally for the writer, poetry can be cathartic, 
a way of healing or expending positive energy, reflecting on sometimes difficult, sometimes heart-warming, self-autobiographical stories from another time. Sometimes it’s about creating new and imaginary tales. Having fun, passing the time. I’m sure on occasions the words just “come out” and a poem isn’t tied to anything other than what the writer is feeling and thinking there and then.

For my Dad, I think writing poetry has been all of those things and more. He has reflected on the past, the here and now, and he’s also looked to the future. And while one is never sure what is real and what is imagined, what has struck me more than anything has been how much he has enjoyed the experience, and how good he is at making the reader take part in the poems themselves. To make the reader ask themselves questions. To ask the reader to pause for thought. To ensure the reader “feels” what he might be feeling.

At turns equally funny and poignant, this is like a collection of short stories into my Dad’s life. Or at least his mind! I do hope he doesn’t stop here, as 

I know there are many more illuminating stories to tell. Daniel Batchelor