I grew up in a small town in Poland, where a winding river cut through the landscape and a quiet forest offered endless places to disappear. While other children returned home to busy kitchens and family dinners, I often found an empty house. His parents worked long hours, so much of his childhood was spent entertaining himself and looking after his younger brother, Jakub.

The woods became his playground, the river his teacher. Left to his own devices, he learned to observe rather than speak, to imagine rather than complain. Solitude became familiar long before he understood its name.

His first real love was rolloskating. It wasn't just a hobby; it was freedom. Every curb, handrail, and cracked pavement became an invitation to create something beautiful from balance and risk. It gave him confidence when little else did.

School was different. I wanted to belong more than anything. He became a chameleon, changing the way he spoke, dressed, and behaved depending on who stood in front of him. He chased acceptance, hoping the popular kids would eventually see him as one of their own. Instead, he often became the target of bullying. Every attempt to fit in seemed to cost him another piece of himself.

Standing up for others came naturally, but standing up for himself did not. Defending classmates who were being mocked often meant becoming the next target. He learned early that kindness has a price, yet he kept paying it, even when it left him feeling alone.

Those years planted questions that would stay with him for the rest of his life. What makes someone worthy of love? Why do people hide behind masks? How much of ourselves do we sacrifice just to belong?

Years later, those questions would become poems.

I do not write because I has all the answers. He writes because words were the friends he found when people failed him. Sitting behind a vintage typewriter in markets and city squares, he listens to strangers for a few minutes and hands them something they can keep forever—a poem that reminds them they are seen, heard and loved.