Gopali Chakraborti Ghosh is a retired teacher of English in the United Kingdom. She presently works mainly with children whose emotional and mental health issues do not fit in with mainstream schools. The poet works to help these students develop confidence, resilience and prepare themselves for their board exams.
The two Bluebird poems were inspired by Charles Bukowski’s Blackbird poem which, as the poet records, she heard on BBC Radio 4’s programme Poetry Pleaseon a Sunday while driving back home. The poet also alludes to Bukowski’s Bluebird poem in her first two here.
The Sakura poem was written four years ago when the poet’s town had a particularly spectacular blooming of the Flowering Cherry trees.