Greetings.  A new year finds me hard at work on two new books of poetry.  I have my hopes up that one or both will finish the year in print.  The reception for my first book of poetry entitled Down the Highway, a Peace has been warm if limited which for one mature as I am is expected.  I am reminded that more folks probably write poetry than would ever purchase a book of poems.  Still, we pursue our art and we do not obsess about things beyond our control.  The learning curve on promoting a book in print is an entirely different experience than crafting individual poems and the more daunting task of providing a home for them in a collection or sequence of poems.  Thank you, all of you, who encouraged me, came to a poetry reading, bought a book, or corresponded with me on individual poems.  Rick Hilber