Winter Morning Walks 100 Postcards to Jim Harrison

Delightful and gentle collection of poetry written to a friend by Kooser as he was undergoing cancer treatment and forced to avoid sunlight. Inspired by his walks in the midwestern pre-dawn winter mornings, he observes nature and himself and the importance of recognizing the present moment.

Written in 1999 - I'm glad to see he's still with us.

This is a good book of solid observational poetry. Kooser's postcards, though they are meant for Jim Harrison, resonate as messages sent directly to me. I fell into the idea of one poem a day, one walk a day, one more day. It's a small book to be sure, Kooser wasn't reaching with this one and I imagine that academics might treat it with disdain, but it's the conversational intimacy of the thing that works for me.

I haven't always loved Kooser's stuff. Some of it strikes me as stuffy and stodgy, but this is much more open and it's a simple matter to fall in step with him in those early hours of the morning and listen to every word he says. And as for those words, they are lean and spare. There aren't many of them. These are afterall show more postcards. I find that each one is quickly scanned but not very soon forgotten. show less

This short poems, sometimes lyrical and sometimes spare, are like satisfying pieces of pie. Each distinct, yet somehow connected to the larger work; each one offering a taste of Kooser's incredible gift of description and honesty.