People have often told me my words have power. Words can be so powerful. I don't consider myself a writer, I don't consider myself a poet, but many may consider this a collection of poems or lyrics to songs.

Not me. I see this as a collection of my thoughts. I am a thinker, and I truly believe in the philosophy that 'because I think, I am'. Thinking is what makes us human, what sets us apart from the animal kingdom, what makes the human race such an enigma within the wider cosmos.

What these collections of thoughts are, too, are something deeply personal to me. I have entitled this book 'Inside Out', because this combination of memories, premonitions, reflections and lamentations come from deep within me. They tell 'my story' and, I hope, open up a very small window on my soul to the world. I invite you to step inside and join me in my thought journey. We need to make sure we connect with our inner thoughts and motivations, as they are what makes us 'us'.

So, do my words have power? That is a question for you to answer once you have read this. This is simply what others have told me because, for myself, my words are simply one thing - me. By reading this collection, I hope you can also start to reflect on how words can help you to discover not just more about me, but more about the inner you.

You will find some poems in Portuguese at the back of this book. I wanted to keep my personal meaning and interpretation and unfortunately, by translating them, they would have lost their impact. So, I have kept them in their original form and hopefully they can still mean something to all readers.