Rob Abdul

Walk a While in My Shoes is a collection of poems that are an account of one man's journey in life, from teenager right into adulthood.

It is a record of the key events and moments through hurt, frustration and at times, sheer inspiration, that compelled me to write my poetry.

In essence, the central themes of this collection of works are love, loss and an admiration of femininity.

The journey starts when I am at the tender age of fifteen years old. The background setting is the back streets ofBirmingham, Middle England in the mid 1990s. Originating from a large family of two sisters and six brothers, I was a middle child. In my teens, not being heard or noticed was the reason poetry became an escape to vent my bottled up emotions that ran riot, in verse form on a page.

My parents were going through a separation whilst I was is in the final year of high school. It was then that a poem I had written in my creative writing class was entered for a competition. This marked the beginning of my writing adventure.

The adventure has had its highs and lows. The lowest of which was the loss of my brother Kalam in a tragic road accident. The never ending high point started when I was twenty two years old. That is when I met the love of my life. As it was true for Romeo and Juliet, who each came from opposing households, the same was true for Nicky and her Rob.

Nicky comes from a Sikh family and I from a Muslim family. These are two religious backgrounds that conventionally do not mix. This struggle gave access to a whole new reservoir of inspiration to tap into.