White Knuckle by Steve Bruce.

A collection of poems but if your passion is for flowery love poems then this may not be for you.

The author has obviously been 'brought up' in difficult circumstances, surrounded by drugs, violence and poverty. Written partly for their cathartic effect, the author does not cry out for sympathy but rather, is now in a happy relationship, well educated, and appears to want to give hope to those who maybe feel at rock bottom.

The message in this collection is that there is hope, there is a funny side of poverty and things can get better.

I have never witnessed the life that the poet went through in his youth. I'm thankful that my idea of poverty was not being able to go on expensive school trips abroad. I'm also thankful for the experiences shared by Steven Bruce to allow me to feel (from a distance) his emotions, open and pared to the bone.