Letters I Didn't Write

Inspiration can come from any source, be it old style country music or the science of physics. "Letters I Didn't Write" is John MacKenzie's anthology of poetry, a follow up to his critically acclaimed previous volumes. Drawing inspiration from many places but most importantly his own life, "Letters I Didn't Write" is a moving volume of poetry indeed. "The Bloom Is Not The Flower": This bloom is not a flower -- no,/ and this mist is not a rain.//She comes halfway through the night to warm me/but leaves me in the bright, cool dawn.//She comes like a dream of spring, all apple blossoms --/how long can these limbs bear her beauty?//She goes like cloud on a July morning,/and can't be found in all that blue.//Oh, the bloom is not the flower./And this mist not the sweet rain.