This book contains a selection of fifty-two short poems, written in the style of Japanese Tanka poetry, and written over a period of slightly over one year. They are arranged in simple chronological order, as they were written, and they contemplate the changing context and mood of the author's life during this time. As these poems were written there were dark periods, when friends and close family members struggled with serious illness. There were also times of public anger and tragedy such as the massacre of innocents at Newtown, Connecticut, and the bombings at the Boston Marathon. There were also many moments of love and joy. The act of contemplation can help all of us find our way through the dark moments of our lives and fully appreciate the joys that surround us.

One poem in this book, Still Singing, captures the need for us all to embrace each day as our moment and our future. I greet each morning, Every change brought by the dawn. I accept them all. Embrace the soft new rhythms, And the call of life's new song.

This short book is a distillation of a series of Haiku written by the author over a period of one year. It was an enforced exercise in meditation, spending a portion of each day in quiet contemplation, during a very difficult year in his life. This selection provides one poem for each week of the year. They are roughly broken into four classifications, Relationships, Spirits, Nature and Vision, and ending with Pathways and Passages, though some defy classification. Some of the poems examine the time of life, such as The Gaining: Time, signpost of life; To gain life, leave time behind. Treasure the losing. Others are focused more on visions of spirits, such as 911 Anniversary: Touch the fading dreams; Wind whispers, gray smoke dissolves. Nothing left to hold.

The poems in this book are selection of Tanka poetry, written by the author in a period of a little over one year. The book is divided into six seasons, The First Late Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall, Early Winter, and The Second Late Winter. During this period of fourteeen months the ebb and flow of the river of his life carried him through many changes and challenges. The early poems address a period of contemplation and preparing for change, as Going Home: Relaxing my graps, I let the small bird fly free; And I watch, afraid. Frantic wings carry her home; Without wings, I am still, lost. The final poem address a personal text of love, as in Love's Touch: Speaking with silence, Soft fatigue has settled here. Quietly, we wait. Leaving our thoughts unuttered. Holding, touching, one more time.

""Faster, faster come the German shouts. Louder and more impatient. Into the ravine they run. 'Schnell! Schnell!' No time to think. No time to escape. Fear chokes their hearts. Breathing comes quick and shallow. No place to hide. No place to go but down the bank, down into nature's quiet embrace, open to greet them, open to enfold them.""

The brutality and terror of the Holocaust is chillingly brought back to life in this series of fictional accounts from author Robert Barker. SS officer Hans Gruber, the sometimes confused and troubled perpetrator, acts as our guide by connecting the scenes in the different stories.

With a focus on the stark, personal decisions made by the perpetrators and victims alike, "The Devil's Chosen" raises disturbing and enduring questions. Do we summon the bravery to stand against evil, or do we abandon all to save ourselves? Do we have the right and the power to forgive the silent bystanders as well as those responsible? What is our role?

"The Devil's Chosen" brings the actions and decisions of both the victims and the perpetrators into focus against the unforgiving background of terror and death.