The author Martin Litherland writes these poems from thoughts, feelings and memories conjured up from his real-life experiences as a geologist.

Both rocks and local people form a romantic backdrop to Martin's poems set in various remote parts of the world. Read of schoolboy inspiration in 'Coffee Smoke'; being alone in Scotland with 'That Russian Spy'; and the discovery of 'The Earliest Animal'. Follow him around the world in 'Places I know best'; and hear of his near-death encounters in 'Nine Lives', before he returns home to meet the Queen in 'OBE Poem'.