From Now Til Then

A Book of Poetry by Michelle Hoffmann

There is the life we are living now, the life we remember, and the life we still hope is waiting somewhere ahead.

From Now Til Then is an eclectic collection of poetry by Michelle Hoffmann about the distance between those places.

At its heart are the things we carry with us: faded photographs, people we miss, music that brings a memory rushing back, dreams that haven’t quite disappeared, and the quiet hope that somewhere beyond today there is still something worth waiting for.

But life isn’t made only of its profound moments.

It is also coffee and chocolate donuts. A cat purring on a pillow. A telemarketer calling the moment you get home. A raven watching from a post. A forgotten line in front of a camera. A beautiful sunset. A record spinning on a turntable. A dog making a heroic attempt to rescue candy from the floor.

From Now Til Then moves freely among all of them.

Some poems linger over love, memory, aging, mortality, and the meaning of life. Others wander into nature, music, fantasy, science, social observation, absurdity, and humor. Haiku and other short-form poems sit beside longer reflections, creating a collection that can shift from thoughtful to playful in the space of a page.

There are butterflies and black cats, ravens and owls, lovers and dreamers, music and moonlight. There are questions about the world we’ve inherited and the one we’re creating. And throughout it all is an awareness of time—of yesterday slipping farther away while tomorrow waits just beyond our reach.

This isn’t poetry that asks to be read according to a set of rules. Open the book wherever you like. Read a single poem over morning coffee. Find one that makes you laugh, another that brings back a memory, and perhaps one that stays with you longer than you expected.

Because somewhere between remembering yesterday and wondering about tomorrow, there is today.

And today is where we’re living.

From Now Til Then is poetry for that journey.