David Burns was born in Liverpool in 1931 and his early life was shaped by wartime Britain and the cultural life of Merseyside. Adept in science and mathematics at grammar school, he began his working life studying chemistry at Liverpool University before building a long career as a mathematician, computer programmer and software industry leader. Following his retirement from the family IT business he founded in 1990, David turned to poetry. Between 2003 and 2008 he wrote nearly 500 poems, which recount his childhood in Liverpool, his family's stories, travel experiences, everyday domestic life, and observations on human nature delivered with dry Liverpudlian humour.