The Drumquin man who finds poetry inspiration in so many ways

THE Leap Year’ is the intriguing title of Patrick’s Gormley’s new poetry book.

The collection of 41 poems marks the Drumquin native’s third work to-date, and it is filled to the brim with ‘a little bit of anything and everything’.

Speaking with the Tyrone Herald, Patrick, who currently resides just outside Cookstown, garners inspiration from the intricacies of wandering thought – as well as the extraordinary moments in every day life.

“My ideas can be literally anything that inspires me,” said Patrick, whose works have been published in publications as far away as America.

“It’s as simple as this… If I get an idea for a poem in my head, it goes straight to the page.”

Patrick’s previous work includes ‘Amber Roses’, which has been published in New York, and ‘Northern Irelaugh’ – a book that, he says, takes a rather humorous look at Northern Ireland within a collection of limericks.

“I get inspired to write poems in many ways,” said Patrick. “My poem, ‘Round About The Roundabout’, came to me when I was travelling home on the bus.

“When the bus came around the roundabout, the words came to me, and I had the full poem in my head by the time I got home.

“However, sometimes, poems come to me without any inspiration, as was the case with ‘The Bee Race’.”

Patrick is also a member of two local writing groups – ‘The Burnavon Writers Group’ in Cookstown and the ‘Five Roads Writing Group’ based in Draperstown.

Patrick, who is the secretary of the Burnavon Writers Group, said: “We have been meeting up in the Burnavon every second Wednesday for over seven years now.

“The Five Road’s Writing Group have been getting together regularly for about four years, and it’s just great to meet up with like-minded people with similar interests.”

You can purchase a copy of Patrick Gormley’s new poetry book, ‘The Leap Year’ from Sheehys, Cookstown,Vivo, Drumquin and Centra, Newtownstewart.