Includes
        "Of History and Hope,"
        the 1997 Presidential Inaugural Poem
      When Miller Williams
        read his Inaugural Poem, "Of History and Hope," to a world-wide
        audience in January, his proverbial "fifteen minutes of fame"
        lasted far less--somewhere between three and four minutes. That was long
        enough to make a big impact on many. Said poet Paul Zimmer, one of the
        millions in his viewing audience, "I came up out of my Lazy-Boy and
        cheered loudly!"
      Williams is an
        American original whose poems have been praised for both the elegance
        of their style and the simplicity of their language, for their wonderful
        humor and genuine passion. The works in his newest collection, The
        Ways We Touch, may be nostalgic or challenging, humorous or full of
        moral fortitude; always Williams speaks with the kind of insight that
        rises from wisdom and experience.
      Praise for Williams's
        earlier work:
      "Miller
        Williams is one of those writers whose books drag me snorkeling happily
        along. Happy as a pig among truffles, I hurry to the next treasure."
        -- William Stafford
      "Most contemporary
        poets might well go to him for lessons in the art of speaking plainly
        in disciplined lines alive with emotional energy." -- X. J. Kennedy
      "Better
        than almost anything else being published." -- Donald Justice