I was weaned on nursery rhymes and introduced at an early age to great poets such as Kipling, Blake, Noyes, Gray and Dunne. Later, during my ensuing adult journey, whenever contemporaneous events provoked strong emotions, I found myself attempting to express them in poetry. Such emotions included wonder, rage, grief, bewilderment, humour and love. Such events include mining disasters, the pandemic, elections, family funerals, terrorist atrocities, and exposure to local legends. All of these appear here. You, the reader, must decide how successful I have been in recording and portraying them. Finally, running throughout, you will note the series of tributes to the person who shared most of the journey and inspired the whole collection.