Some people are just born lucky. Jonathan Bracker is one of them. His mother read poems to him when he was a boy -- not only poems meant for children but also poems meant for adults. He liked what he heard and as a result poetry became a part of his life. He remembers enjoying haiku (in translation, of course) in junior high school. When he was in high school, he bought a book of poems by Carl Sandburg. Although he no longer has the book, he remembers it was published by the World Publishing Company of Cleveland and had photographs by Edward Steichen, Sandburg's father-in-law. Soon he was writing poetry of his own. One of the first which partly satisfied him (he was still quite young) was about a dragonfly and had the lines "Oh, zooming thing / Above my head you are hovering." Then he went to college and began to write poetry in earnest. He was fortunate to have a fine poet, Frederick Eckman, as inspiration and guide. Over the years of a long life, Bracker has read many poets and poems. He has found so many good ones! He loves to read them aloud to friends. And now there is this compilation. The poems in it are, in his opinion, well written indeed and capable of bringing real pleasure. They are user-friendly without being simplistic. Most of them are short. He likes to think of the pleasure this collection may bring.