Can you tell us about your life and what path led you to write poetry?
I started writing poetry a year ago. I had written some poetry as a teenager, (a long, long time ago). From recollection it was filled with usual teenage angst. Married at 19 and four children by the time I was 25 encouraged me to get over the teenage angst and deal with the responsibilities of providing for a family.
Initially I trained as a Mental Health Nurse and then became a Minister of Religion for a few years. Having grown up as the son of a Minister religion and the church was second nature to me and not a good career choice. It didn’t work out and God, the church and I have had a long troublesome history since then.
After this experience I have worked in the not-for-profit sector dealing with issues such as homelessness, drug and alcohol dependencies, mental health issues and now in the community legal sector.
I spent the majority of my life feeling I had no artistic or creative talent, so the path to writing poetry is more the consequence of my soul’s journey rather than a conscious direction I choose.
Five years ago my son passed away at the age of 24. Although his passing was traumatic I was conscious of a desire to write poetry,
David Kernohan
Interview