I think every person needs to own this book. -Naomi Shihab Nye

Longtime friends Jim Harrison and Ted Kooser always exchanged poems in their letter-writing. After Kooser was diagnosed with cancer, Harrison found that his friend’s poetry became overwhelmingly vivid, and they began a correspondence composed entirely of brief poems, because that was the essence of what we wanted to say to each other.

In addition to their original 300-plus poem correspondence, this special anniversary edition of Braided CreekWise, wry, and penetrating, these epigrammatic, aphoristic poems explore love and friendship, pausing to celebrate the natural world, aging, everyday things and scenes, and poetry itself. When asked about attributions for the individual poems, one of them replied, This book is an assertion in favor of poetry and against credentials.