The words keep coming for Karl

Karl Bierl has done a lot of things in his life but none have had the personal impact of this latest incarnation as a poet.

The 59-year-old Dock 5 resident says the words come to him day and night almost as if he is being channelled from above.

“I get these words in my head and once they build to more than two lines I have to stop what I am doing and write them down,” he said.

Mr Bierl said writing by torchlight in the middle of the night doesn’t make him too popular with his wife.  Nor does it help him as a truck driver when he feels the inspiration and has to pull over to the side of the road to record his rhymes.

“I don’t think I’m a clever person, so I can’t really believe this is happening to me or that I am writing all these poems,” he said.

Apart from driving trucks, Mr Bierl is also a relieving primary school teacher.  In the past he has been a furniture removalist, a crowd controller, a factory worker, a policeman, milkman, footballer and a strapper.

It was six years ago when he was teaching in a special school that he was hit by the urge to write poetry.

Now with thousands of poems under this belt, he has self-published one book and is looking for a publisher to take on his second, third and fourth books which are all in various stages of completion.

He printed 100 copies of his first book Positive Poetry in Rhyme and is struggling to recover the costs of the operation.  He also struggles with the rejection that goes with the publishing territory and resents the attitude of many in the industry who dismiss him without even looking at his work.

His second book will be Educational Poetry in Rhyme, his third will be humourous and his fourth will be a collection of personalised poems he has written for others.

MY WIFE:
Is able to talk underwater.
Has a grandson and a granddaughter.
May be suspicious due to past events.
Loves her holidays, but not camping or sleeping in tents.
Not very good on a bicycle.
Is kind and thoughtful and always available at call.
Has a husband who is as stubborn as a bull.
Yet she always feeds him until his tummy is completely full.
Equal to any verbal challenge.
On a bicycle has got very poor balance.
At times may display a tough exterior, but is soft at heart.
Has no University Degree, but is very smart.
Knows no card tricks for she is no magician.
Yet, she can perform magic in the kitchen.
Yes, handy with a kitchen knife.
She is my soul mate, my partner and my wife.