The Book of Willie

Poetry. "Willie" is Kesler's undisguised alter ego—a Vietnam combat vet whose deck is stacked with rabid trick-or-treaters, nuclear terrorists, and grumpy VA hospital volunteers. Funny, touching, and uncannily relevant in light of current events, these poems remind us that the soldiers we send to fight our wars may go on fighting them for the rest of their lives. "These Willie poems are deceptively simple, often pointing as much to what is unsaid as to all that is. At times, the humor of these poems seems to be driven by a quiet current of real pain, real yearning, but this is always offset by the playful mischief in the voice, which invites us to enjoy Willie's gentle lunacy and to see in him some of our own goofy quirkiness. An escape into Willie is a worthwhile excursion."—Tim Seibles