1Blooms of Oleander is a collection of poems and one emotional short story that have had a dramatic impact on the author. Tales of loves lost and found as well as lessons learned along the way are included on each page in excruciating and inspirational detail. As noted throughout the work, what the heart wants can often be hazardous to one's health mentally, physically and spiritually.The scars of those experiences stay with us long after the infatuation of the moment has passed. Love has no middle ground. Romance teaches us that we emote in extremes. What once was adored can be loathed in an instance. Expectations and ideals are often unreasonable. The imperfections of those we place on pedestals eventually become evident. More times than not, those personal blemishes become guideposts to something or someone else better suited for our love and lives. Being in love with love can be a dangerous undertaking. Loving the ideal of someone rather their authentic self is the road to lasting heartache. Blessed with the gift of hindsight, I count all of those disappointments as gain. I am grateful to have lived long enough to tell the tale. These are my stories. At times, the pain of it all capsized my vessel on the sea of life. Rather than drown in my own despair, I kicked against the waves of misery and swam for shore. A native of Mississippi, Steve Robertson has worked as a professional writer since 1997. Blooms of Oleander is his fourth book and first in the poetry genre. His previous works Flim Flam, Stark Villains and Alpha Dawgs have all been mainstays on the Mississippi best seller's list for the past few years. Robertson and his family live in Starkville, Mississippi where he covers Mississippi State sports on a full-time basis. Readers can find out more about Robertson and his earlier books at www.AlphaDawgsTheBook.com