Then Now Later is a short volume of poetry that explores the idea that the past present and future are always presents in our lives. Using simple language, and a free-flowing mixture of rhymed and unrhymed verse, the author visits each title theme (then now later) individually, but appears to emphasize the importance of living 'in the now' while still trying absorb the nutrients of the past so that the recipe for the future is created with care. The book opens with a famous lullaby - a lullaby with which we are all familiar 'row row row your boat gently down the stream' and which serves to be a perfect opener for the piece. It fits well because after a series of shorter poems, the book becomes and concludes with a lengthy stream of consciousness narrative written 'in the now'.

Little Man follows the adventures of Emmett Hofmeister in his first year of life as he explores the world around him with his Mom, Dad and two little pups, Maya and Jake. The story begins with the news that a baby is on the way, and then follows little Emmett from his first photograph inside the womb until his first birthday. Full of captured moments and advice for the new little man in his life, Michael Hofmeister highlights his son's big and little milestones using a form of journal poetry. A perfect gift for any expecting parents or for parents that'd like to reminisce about the little miracles that have lit up their lives in ways only they can.

Addition is a short volume of poetry which was, by the author's own admission, an experiment to see how long he could write without stopping. The book opens with the axiom, 'if you're not adding, you're subtracting.' "I opened with that line and I just kept going," Michael said, "as quickly as possible, and with as little regard for punctuation, grammar, etc. as possible. The point was to remove the filter I normally use when I write - to remove the filter so that I could let my insides out without trying to stop or shape them at all - to let them be exactly as they are. Unfortunately, I did edit a little bit after completing it. But, I stopped myself from further editing when I realized it would defeat the purpose of the experiment and would also ruin the uniqueness of the imperfections that happened along the way. I truly believe everything happens for a reason, and so, I decided to leave it as is - to except the imperfections as a part of the piece - imperfections that somehow end up flavoring the piece in a way that fixing them wouldn't."

U is an exploration of the idea that trusting your first instinct when writing can lead to very interesting and unexpected places. It was written using an expanded form of poetry taught in grade school. The author chose seven letters, which by themselves are words, as the starting points for each line, and used every possible combination of those seven letters in succession to establish the final structure of the piece. "Writing it was like an inkblot exercise of sorts," Michael Hofmeister has stated. "By forcing myself to use predetermined letters to begin each line, I chose words I normally wouldn't use, which ended up being a unique way to trick my subconscious into revealing what was really on my mind at that time." Also, at some point, he started to realize the poems were unintentionally yielding distinct physical images do to the somewhat controlled but also random placement of the words. He began to play with these images until they fit the page and the project took on a whole new life as a form of word art or shape poetry. Pull the page away from your face and let your eyes drift for a moment and see if any images stick out from the white landscape behind the words. Written over the course of a two week period, U is comparable to a musical theme album in that it's best when read straight through in one sitting.

The Island City is a short volume of poetry which highlights the simple joys of a summer weekend on a lake at a cabin in western Wisconsin. Michael Hofmeister stated this regarding the impromptu nature of the creation of the book: "I hadn't intended on writing a book at all - it just happened. The first night at the cabin, after everyone had gone to bed, it was absolutely perfect outside, so I went to the screen porch, sat down, turned on a small lamp and listened to the night. I started jotting down a few short lyrics about what was happening in the moment as quickly as it was happening - a loon singing, a chorus of frogs, the waves on the lake, the sound of the wind, a june bug trying to reach the light I was was writing by - and so on. I tried to keep it simple and straight to the point - nothing fancy. I continued that pattern the next day and into the next night and before I knew it, I was sitting on quite a few complete or nearly complete poems. It was a fun family weekend on a beautiful lake and I felt very lucky to be able to capture it in this way as well as I could." Set in Cumberland, Wisconsin (which is also known as The Island City) at Camp Brigadoon on Beaver Dam Lake, this book is perfect for anyone who has been fortunate enough to spend any amount of time on a lake in Minnesota or Wisconsin at any point in their lives. Written in a clear and simple language, the poems although short in length are full of character and have an honesty about them that can only be compared to the feeling a day next to the water can evoke.

Our Earthly Rhythms is a volume of poetry that explores the four seasons of nature and life both physically, emotionally and metaphorically. Like U before it, Our Earthly Rhythms is comparable to a musical theme album in that it is meant to be read straight through in one sitting. The story begins in the fall with "A Civilization of Fire," a shape poem which sounds like the fire it's describing when read aloud, and ends in the summer with "Our Earthly Rhythms" a short-but-sweet conclusion that may leave the reader with the impression that the story is ever and ongoing. Written over the course of an eleven year period, each poem has it's own unique voice, style, rhythm and subject matter. It's main theme appears to be an acknowledgement of an infinite passage of time which courses through the book as though it were as commonplace to talk about as the weather. In "Emergence," the author states that "The repeating four seasons of life take root in a short spring of becoming and are succeeded by an emergence into a world of contrasting qualities of dark and light" and concludes that "The sun is close but will move away again the season's will repeat again and again everything will change and return and change and return again and again..."