IT’S HARD to imagine two more opposite occupations than tanker driver and poet. But Derek Sim does them both.
And it’s the loneliness of the long-distance driving that inspires his poetic genius.
Derek, 53, of Stocksfield, Northumberland, drives hundreds of miles a week delivering oil in and around his home county.
It gives him plenty of time for thought, and the passing landscape gives rise to scores of poetry ideas.
Now Derek has published his first book, By the Way, containing over 50 of his best poems.
And early sales have been red-hot, with almost 160 of an initial print run of 200 already gone.
Derek has been on the tanker run with WCS Fuels North-East of Hexham for 13 years.
He said: “I spend a lot of time on my own in the tanker, thinking and reflecting, and seeing the scenery.
“I keep a notebook and paper in the cab and every time I get an idea I jot it down. There are dozens of Post-it notes stuck all over.
“I used to throw them away if nothing came of an idea, but my editor, Vivienne Hall, told me not to – so I kept the lot. And it’s worked. I have an eclectic mix of thoughts – when I hear or see something, I write it down.
