"When I think back on the years I've spent in the Middle East, I tend to

feel this burning sense of nostalgia. Having spent my years as a firefighter

assigned in an airbase, I was mostly surrounded by the desert.

In the quietness that engulfed the place and the solitude of being far away

from home, I found a friend in poetry. Gazing into the clear blue skies and

the stunning desert, I saw the beauty of life. Sandstorms can happen in the

moments you least expect, a mirage could occur and deceive you before

your eyes, and there were days when intense sunlight can burn through

your skin. But despite it all, the calmness follows after and it becomes a

picturesque scenery once more.

The desert is a lot like life. Unexpected turbulences may occur but, in the

end, there is always that calmness purging from the surface.

This book is all about life, love, and nature. These poems are testaments

that despite the adversities life can bring, it goes on and remains to be

beautiful."