Derry playwright touched by the 'amazing' response to his latest poem about the devastating impact of suicide

A Derry writer says he has been touched by the response to a new poem he has written about suicide.

Brian Foster, who has written a number of successful plays during his career, has created a series of poems over the past year.

His latest is called 'Too Late to Save You' and deals with the impact left behind when someone takes their own life.

Brian posted the poem online last week and he said the response was 'amazing'.

“It definitely struck a chord, with so many commenting on how they could relate to the sentiments expressed,” he said.

The local writer said he received several private messages from people who had lost loved ones to suicide.

However, Brian said he had one message from a local man in his 20s which will 'forever leave its mark'.

“He said that reading my poem on the Memories of Creggan page had made him stop and think and had brought home to him the hurt and devastation a suicide leaves behind for so many,” said Brian.

“He explained he’d been experiencing a lot of issues in his life of late that had led him to harbour ‘some very dark thoughts’ about ending it all. But that he now realised he needed help.

“I told him not to bottle it up. To speak to family and friends about his problems.

“I also gave him the names and numbers of some organisations he might contact.

"He messaged me back the following day to confirm that he had now rung one of the numbers I’d given him, and would be receiving counselling.

“And he told me he’d even sat down with his parents for a heart to heart to address his problems.”

Brian said he was humbled when the local man told him that 'it seemed like every line in your poem was speaking personally to me'.

Brian added that of all his work, his recent poem about suicide and the impact that it had had was the thing he was most proud of.