A Teenage Poet

I’m sharing the story of my journey into poetry for several reasons. So I don’t forget it in my old age! To leave my story as family history for them to laugh or cry over, and to encourage my daughters and anyone else who will linger to read it, that it is NEVER TOO LATE IN LIFE to learn the ‘how, what, where and why’ of something that is of interest to you, the ‘thing’ that you are passionate about, and to stick at that something until it is accomplished to your satisfaction. Oh, of cause, and to enjoy the journey along the way. Beverley Joy

A Teenage Poet

The first rhyming song that I wrote was at 13 years of age. I wrote a simple children’s song in high school for a grade 8 music exam. I barely passed English in high school and yet I excelled in music!

I wrote a few Christian songs together with my two cousins (chopped out of the picture for privacy). With our guitars, we performed to youth groups in churches throughout my hometown of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. I left school at sixteen years of age excited to start working full time in the 1970s.

As a teenager, I dreamed of becoming a professional singer. I dreamt of being like Olivia Newton-John (who was my favourite singer). But I was too shy to pursue that career path, so playing the guitar, the piano and singing remained my favourite hobbies. I was pleasantly surprised when I recently found the original notebook that contained several rhyming songs that I had composed and neatly handwritten as a teenager.

I left home at 18 years of age and moved interstate. I set my guitar aside to embrace life and love, content to sing around the campfire, at the occasional wedding and at informal karaoke sessions just for fun. To be continued next week…