Watch the Poetry Reading:
1) What is the theme of your poem?
A person wracked with a terminal illness, reaches the end of their life and finally accepts the inevitable in an unforgiving, desolate setting.
2) What motivated you to write this poem?
Although I was in a dark place when I wrote it, it was primarily influenced simply by a vivid and disturbing dream I had.
3) How long have you been writing poetry?
I started writing poetry during a Covid lockdown in 2021 and was quite prolific. I penned over 170 poems, almost entirely humourous in content. I collated the collection of poems, based on observations and childhood memories, in three books, (Can It Be Just Me?, Presents From The Past and Can It Still Be Just Me?) which I subsequently self-published.
4) If you could have dinner with one person (dead or alive), who would that be?
Alive: Tom Baker (The 4th Dr Who) Dead: John Lennon
5) What influenced you to submit to have your poetry performed by a professional actor?
I always wanted to hear a different voice read this particular poem. It is a world away from my usual genres and the artist you chose to read it fits the piece perfectly.
6) Do you write other works? scripts? Short Stories? Etc..?
Yes, apart from three books of poetry, I have written five published novels, a book of short mystery stories, a sitcom series in script form and more recently some short film screenplays which cumulatively have won over 160 awards from many international film festivals.
7) What is your passion in life?
I love to write and create stories, poems and scripts that people will find engaging and interesting to read. My next goal is to find someone who will want to make a film of one of them!
Matthew Toffolo's Summary 