Telford poet celebrates book of lockdown verse
A Telford poet who took up writing during lockdown to cope with being off work is celebrating seeing his verses snapped up by a publisher .
Father-of-two Chris Mark Thomson, who is a pal of celebrity poet John Cooper Clarke, decided to put pen to paper after the pandemic led to him being put on furlough like many other workers.
The construction company stores' manager and his musician wife Barbara Helen Glazzard, of Sunnyside Road, Ketley Bank, were also struck down with suspected coronavirus ahead of the first lockdown last year.
During his recovery he came up with 'Lockdown 2020: 5 Minute Poems' after initially posting verses on social media to cheer up other people.
"At the start of the first lockdown I was by catching up with DIY, making music videos and spending time with the family. Then I started writing for a few minutes at a time mainly because I'd get interrupted by our dog wanting a fuss or something.
"I thought I'd post them on Facebook to amuse people as all we were hearing was bad news about this awful disease. I thought it would take people's minds off it because we were all upset about what was happening. I quite enjoyed doing it.
"I was very relieved to get back to my job after 16 weeks on furlough though. Mentally I found it a struggle like many of us towards the end of my time off. It has been challenging for everybody," the 48-year-old says.
He explains that the book of poems was available electronically at £1.99 and in paperback published by Amazon at £4.68.
"I've just had a delivery of my books which I have sent to friends and family to read including the poet John Cooper Clarke, who is a family friend, and who's been supportive of my writing.
"I'm now working on a longer and more technically challenging poem," he said.
Mr Thomson, originally from Berkshire, plans to donate part of the proceeds from Lockdown 2020: 5 Minute Poems to the charity Mental Health Foundation.
