four part poetry volume based on Kevin Power's deployment in Iraq as an Army machine gunner.

National Book Award finalist, Iraq war veteran, novelist and poet Kevin Powers creates a deeply affecting portrait of a life shaped by war. Letter Composed During a Lull in the Fighting captures the many moments that comprise a soldier's life: driving down the Texas highway; waiting for the unknown in the dry Iraq heat; writing a love letter; listening to a mother recount her dreams. Written with evocative language and discernment, Powers's poetry strives to make sense of the war and its echoes through human experience.

Just as The Yellow Birds was hailed as the "first literary masterpiece produced by the Iraq war," this collection will make its mark as a powerful, enduring work (Los Angeles Times).

"Rather than place this collection among tomes of war literature, focusing only on the lineage of battle and the refrains of gunfire, I’d encourage readers to simply employ the appellation “poet” — a term he has earned with this book and one I look forward to seeing him develop and add to as the years go by. " Brian Turner review in washington post