If you look with your heart to see the good in people, you will usually find it. Like Andy did. *****To hear a recording of this poem read by the author, please go to SoundCloud dot com (search for A Michigan Skylark in Laramie)

Despite Francie's claim that he "never was much of a hand to write," Jess is undeniably a letter writer. We know he writes to Gil Brady, Galveston's sheriff, Jim Tenny, & to Slim. In the vivid & playful letter Jess sends home in "Duel at Alta Mesa" we hear a mixture of irony, simile, humor, & thinly veiled homesickness. For a recording of this poem, please go to SoundCloud dot com.

Images of light and darkness abound this time of year, from Solstice to Hanukkah to Christmas. In a deeply divided world, we are—all of us—in dire need of light, just as the boys were after the terrible darkness and division that marked the American Civil War. (An audio recording of this poem can be found on Soundcloud dot net - search for "A Michigan Skylark in Laramie").