Just like in each one of us, there is more than one side to the author.

On the one hand, as testified by fellow resident of Siggiewi Dr Norbert Bugeja, the author is an experienced marathon runner, both in Malta and abroad, with a string of successes over the years.

On the other hand, the author is a poet. In fact, this is the fourth book of poems written by him, following Irdieden (2013), Kilometri (2015) and Madwar Hajti (2018).

Perhaps the two sides are related. In the 1960s Alan Sillitoe had written The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner. When one is running a marathon, one does not chat with the others, nor takes in the beauty of the surroundings. One may thus have the opportunity to converse with oneself - which is where poems are born.

As the title itself says, when he finds himself in solitude, the author reflects on his life and on life in itself. In the life we are living, dominated by fast food and a super-fast Internet, it is when we find ourselves on our own that we can slow down and reflect on our personal existence.

The author himself states that "silence does not exile you". In fact, this slim book amply proves this. Each poem is thus intensely subjective, a mirror held up to help the author, and others, understand himself.

Most of the poems are short, sometimes five verses in all but the reader is well-advised not to rush through but rather to savour the poems until the meaning becomes clear. Sometimes the meaning emerges after a second, sometimes after a third, reading. And yet the author uses everyday language and shuns obscure references.

One of the best poems in this book, at least in my opinion, is Fairyland.

Ghajnejja jridu biss
jaraw lil tieghek jitbexxqu
u b'harstek ghajjiena
tpetpet bhal musbieh
ittarrafli hlistx mit-tbatijiet.