Winter Morning Walks:  One Hundred Postcards to Jim Harrison, Ted Kooser, 2000

Kooser, US Poet Laureate from 2004-2006, writes these brief poems and sends them on postcards to his good friend, author Jim Harrison, during a winter when he is being treated for cancer.  Mortality and natural beauty vie in these beautifully wrought poems written about his early morning walks, often in the dark and deep Nebraska cold.  Skies, birds, nocturnal animals, wind, cold, and the vast flat plains of the heartland all figure prominently in these tiny jewels.  This book spoke to me especially deeply given the recent death of Harrison and my postcard project.  This book is worth reading, even for those who are not fans of poetry.  Kooser is a gem!